When in the 15th Century a young Leonardo da Vinci discovered fossilized shells, whale and fish bones in mountain caves in the north Italian Alps he questioned the prevailing Judeo-Christian worldview of his time. Da Vinci is famous for his exquisite paintings and during his lifetime was sought after as a military engineer and inventor. …
Education experts and historians may be able to shed some light on what stage in the evolution of Western civilisation we started to think that learning is a serious affair and somehow separate from playing. This distinction is as misguided, and as unhelpful, as the distinction between the processes that lead to scientific discovery and …
Albert Einstein may, or may not, have said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” A century ago the American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist Charles Sanders Peirce wrote that inductive and deductive reasoning on their own never led to a new idea. He warned …
It is a little-known fact that Leonardo da Vinci worked in entertainment. Of course, the industry didn’t exist in the Renaissance, but da Vinci was a skilled musician and he created and played quirky and beautiful musical instruments. There are many written accounts of the elaborate theatrical props that da Vinci invented as well as …
What do the world’s greatest thinkers, scientists, artists, and visionaries have in common? Archimedes of Syracuse, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo Galilei drew on the scientific knowledge of their times. They observed, measured, and imagined. They challenged widely accepted and long-held beliefs and created new knowledge. Each of them tested their hypotheses and adjusted their …
Did you know that through his meticulous observations of rocks and fossils Leonardo da Vinci made earth-shattering discoveries in the field of geology? During his detailed investigation of terrain and his topological study of the Alpine region north of Milan, Leonardo made accurate annotations on fish fossil and leaf fossil nichi in the Codex Leister, …
Since the dawn of technology, humans have sought ways of using machines and inventions to make work easier. Even though we can use machines to create mechanical advantage, it is sadly not possible for any machine to produce more energy than is put into it. As Albert Einstein put it, “Energy cannot be created or …