LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Optics: Reflection of a Parallel Beam on a Spherical Mirror; Construction of the Caustic Curve Pen and brown ink on paper About 1503–1506 The British Library, London, Codex Arundel 263, fol. 87v–86r. Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Hydrology and Astronomy Left-hand page: The Presence of Water on the Moon; the Nature of Waves Right-hand page: The Sun Seen from the Earth; the Moon Seen from the Earth; the Waves of the Sea Reflecting the Sun’s Light on the Moon’s Surface Pen and brown ink on paper About 1506–1510 The Codex Leicester, now in the collection of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, deals with physics and the mechanics of water – one of the four elements (together with fire, earth and air) that compose the uni- verse. It contains Leonardo’s theories on the role of water in the formation and geological evolution of the Earth. Believing the Moon to be a non-luminous body, he supposed that the light of the sun was reflected on its surface by stretches of rippling water. Bill and Melinda Gates Collection, Seattle, Codex Leicester, fol. 36v–1r 0 87 0 88