(1452 - 1519)
Leonardo da Vinci was a versatile artist and all-round scientist, the quintessential Renaissance man. He is famous for paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. His notebooks reveal studies in anatomy, engineering, botany, geology, and hydrodynamics. He designed flying machines, armored vehicles, and solar concentrators centuries before they became possible. His mastery of technique and his scientific investigation of nature were unprecedented.