DETACH THIS SECTION
ECIAL
SECTION FOR HONGKON
From Paintings to Parachutes
SEO
Leonardo, it seems, didn't know
in what century he was
SOONER or later every boy and girl gets to
look at a picture of the famous painting "The Last Supper." Equally famous is the painting of "Mona Lisa."
Most people know that these masterpieces were painted al- most 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci.
not
What most people do know is that Leonardo was a great inventor as well.
Remember, he lived in Italy 500 years ago. Here are some of his inventions: The helicopter, airplane, machine gun, automo-
Léonardo da Vinci
Sounds unbelievable,
days it was customary to call people by their first names. So he is Leonardo from the town of Vinci-Leonardo da Vinci.
the He became
pupil of a famous goldsmith and painter in Florence,
and amazed the older artists with his talents.
But Leonardo was not con- tent just to be a painter. He had to explore many flelds of activity engineering, sculp- ture, medicine, physics, chem- istry.
He would take nothing for granted. He would not believe anything until he was able to £ prove it to himself.
Many of Leonardo's inven- tions were made in his life- time. Others exist only in
hundreds of pages of draw- ings and notes which he kept to himself, and were found after he died.
His notes were not easy to read. He wrote them in a ccdę he made up. Also, they, were written backwards, so that to read them they must be held up to a mirror.
Some of his inventions:
A parachute. It is said that 3 pupil
really of Leonardo jumped with one of his para- chutes from a high tower—and landed safely.
વે
living
LEONARDO'S MACHINE GUN...
barrels at a time or one at a time.
blood were famous.
The man who dreamed up this strange machine gun never heard of American Indians. This is a model based on invention by Leonardo da Vinci, who lived 500 years ago. Two-level bridge. One level bile (driven by springs), lifting was for traffic, the other for
had an engine powerful enough, coveries about the circulation of Leonardo believed
it might have worked. jack (like our auto jacks) and pedestrians.
Tank. Much
Leonardo like the mili-
believed that to that such a bridge was needed
Many of his anatomy draw- a two-level bridge.
children doesn't so that
and
were perfect enough to adults tary tank of today, Leonardo's draw and paint the human figure, ings
an artist had to know how the be used today. it. But Leonardo was an unbe- could walk safely while horses device lacked only, a motor.
Leonardo's Helicopter, and carriages dashed across the
de- muscles of the body worked. For lievable man.
vice looked
dissected dead like a giant pin- this reason he other level.
operated Machine gun. Leonardo's ma- wheel,
by two men, bodies and made sketches of the cranks. If Leonardo muscles and skeleton. His dis- In those chine gan could be fired several turning
Leonardo was born in the small town of Vinci, near Flor- ence, Italy, in 1452.
'Take up thy cross- and follow me'
-Credit card to Julia Martinez.
When
you talk about some- body being ahead of his time Leonardo you're talking about from the town of Vinci.
The 17-21
Club's five rules
• Membership in the 17-21 Club is open to all within that age group..
• Contributions and all ac- tivities of the Club will be limited to members only,
JA
• Contributions may consist of anything that is publishable articles, letters, stories, photo- graphs, drawings, verses. But only the best will be printed.
All contributions MUST be original.
• Written contributions should not consist of more than 350 words, photographs and draw- ings will only be accept- ed in black-and-white.