True Science

1. I liked the part where Da Vinci compared men with earth, “Man has been called by the ancients a lesser world and indeed the term is well applied. Seeing that if a man is composed of earth, water, air, and fire, this body of earth is similar. While man has within himself bones as a stay and framework for the flesh, the world has stones which are the supports of earth. While man has within him a pol of blood wherein the lungs as he breathes expand and contract, so the body of the earth has its ocean, which also rises and falls every six hours with the breathing of the world; as from the said pool of blood proceed the veins which spread their branches through the human body, so the ocean fills the body of the earth with an infinite number of veins of water...” (Da Vinci, p. 45- 46). I didn’t really make that comparison before until now, which made me think if Da Vinci believed in reincarnation because he says nature reoccurs, and it regenerate itself repeatedly, which the same essence. At the same time, not only the physical descriptions are similar, the randomness of nature and human minds are similar, too. Sometimes humans feel melancholy or emotional impulsiveness, which is similar to the random events of earth.
2. Da Vinci noticed, “The earth is moved from its position by the weight of a little bird alighting upon it. The surface of the sphere of the water is moved by a little drop of water falling into it” (Da Vinci, p. 26). This is commonly known as Newton’s Third Law but discovered way earlier based on Da Vinci’s observation and comparison. This observation and comparison really taught be that there are many things that could be prepared with one another to receive a reasonable guess or explanation. Even if it is something intangible, it could be compared to some visible phenomenon then used to explain the reasoning behind nature’s occurrence.

1. Da Vinci challenged a lot of ideas by proposing that experiments are necessary to justify ideas to even laws. I believe that someone who challenges the idea of uncertainty based on nature would strongly oppose the idea that perfection exist because there would be no way to justify “perfectness” through experimentation. He mentioned, “The centre of a particular sphere of water is that which is formed in the tiniest particles of dew, which is often seen in perfect roundness upon the leaves of plants where it falls” (Da Vinci, p. 25). Da Vinci proposes an idea of perfectness generated by nature, but he cannot prove the perfectness of the shape of the dew. This stood out to me because he started by saying, “what trust can we place in the ancients, who tried to define what the Soul and Life are- which are beyond proof- whereas those things which can at any time be clearly known and proved by experience remained for many centuries unknown or falsely understood” (Da Vinci, p. 1). Perfection is hard to define and is difficult to defend its existence or even prove it. Thus, how could something be perfect in its shape, but could not be justified or proved through experiences or experiments?
2. Da Vinci described the movement of water could be seen but has no real physical affect. Da Vinci stated, “And the reason of this is that although apparently there is some show of movement there, the water does not leave its places because the openings made there by the stones are instantly closed again, and the motion occasioned by the sudden opening and closing of the water causes a certain shaking which one would describe as a tremor rather than a movement” (Da Vinci, p. 38). In this scenario, Da Vinci noticed the water ripple could only be seen, but such visual doesn’t represent the physical movement of the water. This is interesting because Da Vinci thinks that “The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the chief means whereby the understanding may most fully and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature” (Da Vinci, p. 4). In the first part, Da Vinci proposed an example in which the most dominating sense humans have could be false, while also saying that the sense is the chief of understanding that makes us believe things.

1. Does Leonardo Da Vinci believe in reincarnation?
2. Is Leonardo Da Vinci an atheist?