Early Life in Florence
Leonardo was born in the small town of Vinci, in Tuscany, near Florence. He was the son of a wealthy Florentine notary and a peasant woman. They gave him the best education that was available at that moment. After the studies, he started to work in Verrocchio's workshop. There he was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects in marble and bronze.

Later Travels and Death
In 1516 he travelled to France to enter the service of King Francis I. He spent his last years at the Château de Cloux, near Amboise, where he died.

Sculptural and Architectural Drawings
None of his building projects was actually carried out as he devised them. In his architectural drawings, however, he demonstrates mastery in the use of massive forms, a clarity of expression, and especially a deep understanding of ancient Roman sources.

Scientific and Theoretical Projects
As a scientist Leonardo towered above all his contemporaries. His scientific theories, like his artistic innovations, were based on careful observation and precise documentation. He understood, better than anyone of his century or the next, the importance of precise scientific observation. Unfortunately, just as he frequently failed to bring to conclusion artistic projects, he never completed his planned treatises on a variety of scientific subjects. His theories are contained in numerous notebooks, most of which were written in mirror script (that is to say, backwards). Because they were not easily decipherable,. Leonardo actually anticipated many discoveries of modern times. In anatomy he studied the circulation of the blood and the action of the eye. He made discoveries in meteorology and geology, learned the effect of the moon on the tides, foreshadowed modern conceptions of continent formation, and surmised the nature of fossil shells. He invented a large number of ingenious machines, many potentially useful, among them an underwater diving suit. His flying devices, although not practicable, embodied sound principles of aerodynamics.

Helicopter: Leonardo was fascinated with the form of the spiral which often appears in nature, and is involved in the principle of the screw. His helicopter takes the form of an aerial screw, following the example of a device earlier brought to Europe from the Far East in the form of a children's toy. Of his design for the helicopter he wrote, "If this instrument made with a screw be well made - that is to say, made of linen of which the pores are stopped up with starchÑand be turned swiftly, the said screw will make its spiral in the air and it will rise high."