Da Vinci The Inventor Of The Car?

[matcom]

<snip>

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Leonardo da Vinci is revered around the world as a master of Renaissance painting and an ingenious engineer, but few have thought of him as the father of the modern car.

But on Friday, the Museum of History and Science in Florence -- the heart of Renaissance Italy -- unveiled the first "automobile" built based on some of the sketches from da Vinci's famous notebooks.

"This has been a big adventure which has also helped us to develop tools to help people unaware of Leonardo's scholarship understand this complex device," said Paolo Galluzzi, director of the museum.

The primitive-looking contraption runs on springs instead of petrol and was probably intended to produce special effects at courtly events, but it was still the world's first self-propelled "vehicle," the experts said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=1&u=/nm/20040423/od_nm/davinci_dc

[sir_captain]

1. Someone built one of these things

a few years ago and it worked pretty well in hilly areas, apparently. of course, you had to start at the top of a hill!

[arcane1]

2. well that's pretty damned cool

here is a pic of it:




from http://www.imss.fi.it/news/eautomobile.html

[Az]

3. Man was ahead of his time

Terry Pratchet has included a Da Vinci type character in his Disc World series. He is kept locked up by the state for the worlds safety. As like Da Vinci he is constantly doodling ideas that are positively deadly. Tanks, guns, submarines, etc.