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Article: Chalk It Up to Genius; Leonardo da Vinci May Be Overrated as a Scientist, But at Drawing He Was a Master
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 31, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"The truth about Leonardo da Vinci," a professor of mine once
insisted, "is that he was the Buckminster Fuller of Renaissance
Italy." Her quip got things about right.
Few of the clever inventions and "scientific" discoveries that we
give Leonardo so much credit for nowadays made any impact on the
researchers who came after him. Some were simply blue-sky, mad-
inventor fantasies, in the style of the three-wheeled Dymaxion flying
car that Fuller imagined into American driveways in the 1930s.
Even as a painter, Leonardo's Fullerish tendencies got in the way.
As disgruntled patrons were always pointing out, a ravenous appetite
for experimentation meant that Leonardo almost never finished ...