Leonardo da Vinci When they hear the name Leonardo da Vinci, most people think of his famous painting, Mona Lisa. This picture is in an art gallery in Paris, and it is visited by millions of tourists every year. But Leonardo w...

Leonardo da Vinci When they hear the name Leonardo da Vinci, most people think of his famous painting, Mona Lisa. This picture is in an art gallery in Paris, and it is visited by millions of tourists every year. But Leonardo wasn't just a painter. He was also a talented inventor', engineer, architect and sculptor. He was full of new and exciting ideas. Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 at his fathers country home near the town of Vinci in Italy. He spent his childhood surrounded by the wonders of nature, perhaps watching animals and insects that were all around him., Leonardo was hungry for knowledge. He studied the the world around him and drew the things he saw. He read everything he could find, listened lo other people's ideas, and made notes of the things he learned. Some of his notebooks were as large as wall posters, and others were small enough to carry in his pocket. Many have been lost, but some of them were published in the 1800s and can be seen today. Although he was full of new ideas, Leonardo didn't build many of his inventions'". One of his notebooks includes a drawing of a person with a parachute""". Only 300 years later, in 1783, a Frenchman became the first person who made and used a parachute. Leonardo did lots of drawings of arms and legs and other parts of the body and he designed a mechanical man — a robot! This robot could sit up, wave its arms, move its head and open and close its mouth. Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519. He was truly a man ahead of his time.