A new exhibition of da Vinci's anatomical drawings reveal him as a scientist ahead of his time
Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist, Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London, 4 May to 7 October 2012
AROUND 1513, Leonardo da Vinci made detailed drawings of the heart and wrote nearly 2000 words of notes on the organ in his characteristic mirror handwriting. Intrigued by the way the aortic valve opens and closes to ensure blood flows in only one direction, he set about constructing a model.
"First pour wax into the gate of an ox's heart so that you may see the true shape of the gate," he wrote. With hardened wax as a template, he recreated the structure in glass. By pumping a mixture of water and grass seed through the glass he was able to observe how the widening at the base of the aorta caused swirls of seeds. These eddies, ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.