ABSTRACT
Leonardo da Vinci is famous for producing countless imaginative sketches during his lifetime. With that said, few may be acquainted with his drawings of the construction of a flying machine, or ‘ornithopter’ (ca. 1485). Da Vinci’s ‘ornithopter’ – the title taken from the Greek ornithos (‘bird’) and pteron (‘wing’) – evidences his genius as inventor of a possible solution to the dream of flight, modelled on the winged anatomy of birds and bats. Whether da Vinci himself ever managed to construct wings and fly is unknown; however, as da Vinci’s drawings illustrate, the artist, inventor and scientist lived well ahead his time.1
