Masinariile lui Leonardo

This book explores Leonardo da Vinci’s machines through drawings and notes. It looks at flight, war, water works, and machines for work. These include boats with armour, pulleys, and a car. It also looks at tools for making music. One design is an odometer, a tool that measures distance travelled. Another is a compass with jointed arms.

This study of science uses pictures to explain the designs. It is for readers keen on machines and Leonardo’s work. Colour plates and clear text show how his designs work. The authors draw on his codices, or books of notes. They also use his sketches and handwritten studies of the body. Some designs have confused readers or led them astray. The authors seek to make these clear. Years of study form the basis for their computer models. These show the designs in three dimensions. They show both well-known inventions and those few people know.

Domenico Laurenza studies the history of images from the Renaissance. He also studies the texts and their meaning in depth. He wrote the book with Mario Taddei and Edoardo Zanon. Both focus on industrial design: how people design things they make. All three have a long-held interest in Leonardo. Taddei and Zanon explain the machines through digital models.

Paolo Galluzzi wrote the opening text. He heads Florence’s Institute and Museum of the History of Science. The book shows how Leonardo honed his use of images. He used them to express technical ideas with care and precision. This is a Romanian translation. Giunti first issued the volume.