I have a fascination with Leonardo Da Vinci's first attempts at human flight, with the bird wings he designed that attached to human arms. When I was little I did not understand why I could not make my arms into bird wings and it amazes me that someone as brillant as Da Vinci would've created something like that out of a child's fantasy. Of course, it's simply not possible for a human to be aerodynamic like a bird. Our bodies are not capable of flight, they weigh too much, we can't hold them in an aerodynamic position. I spent a good portion of the plane ride back from Venice trying to work out all the reasons humans can't fly and birds and planes can. The amount of slight adjustments needed to keep an airplane from spinning out of control are incredible. I watched as the wings were expanded slightly and then brought back in. A human could never do it, and it's amazing that birds can do it so easily, so naturally.
I really like the Da Vinci museum exhibit. It's amazing that one man thought of so indepth about so many different things. His inventions were brillant and things such as bird wings set the Wright Brothers on the right track. Without Da Vinci they probably would've simply died jumping off of buildings.
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Wow! Sarah I never really thought of it from that perspective. I simply just learned that humans could not fly and accepted it for what it was. I never thought about the reasons we cant or how the birds and planes could easily adjust their wings and continue soaring through the horizon.
RispondiEliminaI truely think that you thought long and hard about this blog and really think that the Wright brothers may have died in their attempts to invent a "flying machine".
When I was little, I ALWAYS wondered why humans were not given wings and the ability to fly. Even though we are not able to do so, I believe that at one point all humans have daydreamed of soaring through the air. Some humans like Leonardo had a brilliant mindset allowing them to make our dreams closer to reality. If he never came close to making a flying machine, we may not have the ability to easily roam the air as we can today. It is amazing to see how one person went above and beyond what others would dream about, leading to a totally different lifestyle from the past.
RispondiEliminaThe one thing that interested me the most at the DaVinci exhibt was the marble/plastic interpretation of the man with wings. As a science major, DaVinci's thought process really interested me. Its neat to think that DaVinci tried to "evolutionize" humans to grow wings.
RispondiEliminaI am still amazed to this day that we , as humans, can "fly". Airplane's mechanisms leave me in awe!!
When I was little I thought the same thing; if I could just jump off the table high enough and flap my arms fast enough I could fly. It obviously never worked but you really can't blame him for trying. If we didnt have planes and learn everything we did I would never know our bodies really arent made for flying. He opened up new paths for others that made flying possible many years later
RispondiEliminaI have always wanted to fly for as long as I can remember. Although I know now that I can't, it's still nice to imagine! It was a nice idea for him to look farther into. If it werent for him, we might not have the planes we do..&& we wouldnt be in Rome right now. THank you Da Vinci! :-P
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