Everyone has heard the name of Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest personalities in human history, and one of the forerunners of the Italian Renaissance, but what most people don't know is that apart from being a brilliant painter, Da Vinci is perhaps one of the most diverse scientific minds ever to have step foot on the planet. Da Vinci was not just a painter, he was a mathematician, an inventor, a scientist and an engineer. Da Vinci as a person was ahead of his time, and some of his inventions are more like the inventions of the modern day and age.

One of the greatest paintings of all time the Mona Lisa was painted by Da Vinci, and in addition to making contributions to the field of arts, Da Vinci was a person who was fascinated by flight. Since and early age Da Vinci wanted to invent something that would allow people to fly like birds. Although considered somewhat eccentric in his time, people openly acknowledged his genius. Among the works that were discovered from Da Vinci's home, were small drawings that had plans for an aircraft, and also a drawing of wings that were intended to give people flight. In fact there was also a design for a pair of shoes that were intended to allow people to walk on water.

Like all genius in human history, Da Vinci was by and large considered to be a man of many facets and was known to spend months at end in pursuit of a particular topic. Da Vinci had been trained in human anatomy and he was one of the first few people in the world, to accurately draw out the position of the foetus in the womb. Da Vinci has also drawn thousands of pictures detailing the way the human bone, muscle and tendons interact with each other, Da Vinci was one of the few people who was given permission to dissect bodies to understand anatomy better, even though such a practice was considered a sin.

Da Vinci's genius as an engineer is what bought him fame, and made him an indispensable asset to many cities, Da Vinci designed many siege and barricade systems to protect cities, and the brilliance of his engineering can be judged by the fact that Da Vinci once made a plan to flood the entire city of Pisa!

Apart from just planning, Da Vinci has many practical inventions attributed to his name, just like his work, Da Vinci's inventions range from a convex lens making machine, to a machine that could harness the power of water, something similar to a hydro-electric plant. As mentioned earlier Da Vinci was fascinated by flying, and Da Vinci has a parachute and a hand glider attributed to his name, in fact many scientists believe that glider if built today might just allow a person to fly.

In fact apart from flight, Da Vinci has many war machines to his name, the first ever tank in human history was postulated by Da Vinci. A tank that moved by using a complex system of levers and gears. To conclude very few minds as brilliant and diverse as Da Vinci have laid foot on the planet.