Da Vinci the Inventor

He designed a square pyramid shaped parachute made of linen, rope, and spruce wood.

This included a mask, breathing tube, and hand flippers.

• submarine
• water turbines
• swing bridges
• double-decker bridges
• various boats
• shoes for walking on water
• self flotation device

It was a cone-shaped, weapon-proof vehicle run by hand cranks.  It could move in any direction.  At the time, there was nothing else like it.

He was convinced that if we had wings we could fly like birds.  He tried everything to make it work, but it wasn't possible.  Our shoulder muscles aren't strong enough to fly.

He invented tools to measure:

• humidity
• altitude
• distance traveled
• incline
• speed of wind and water
• intensity of light

He didn't invent it, but he improved it so it only took one man to operate it.

He created the first clock to measure minutes as well as hours.

• pumping mechanisms
• dredging systems
• cranes
• pulley systems
• convection roasting spit
• mechanical saw
• spring-driven car
• helicopter

• He explained how sea shells were miles from water:   the land where the sea shells rested was once at the bottom of sea.  The common explanation was that they were left from the biblical flood.
• Light and sound moves in waves.
• Planets revolve around the sun.