February 19, 2009

Currently on exhibit at the McWane Science Center is a collection of functional, full-scale machines born from the imagination of Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci. Titled Machines in Motion, the display includes 40 inventions built to detailed specifications from the drawings and notes that filled da Vinci’s 600-year-old manuscripts (the Codices). Patrons are likely to be astonished at the ingenuity and creativity of the 15th-century inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer who is best remembered for his paintings the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

The exhibit is arranged into five sections. The first is “mechanisms,” which includes devices that showcase the basic operational principles of machines in the exhibit, specifically the transfer of motion to make seemingly impossible tasks appear effortless. The other categories represent the four elements found in nature: earth, water, fire, and air.

All machines in the exhibit are from a museum in Florence, Italy, dedicated to da Vinci’s complex inventions. The machinery is composed primarily of lime, fir, beech, and European oak woods (even the ball bearings and gearwheels are wooden) that have been processed to be as resilient as iron. The detailed craftmanship alone makes the exhibit worthwhile.

The basic mechanisms section of the exhibit is the most challenging to grasp. Familiarity with lantern pinions, rack-and-pinion devices, worm screws, and other mechanical gadgets is helpful, yet any observer will recognize a chain-drive transmission, car-lifting jack, and rope-and-pulley systems. The machines found in the categories represented by the four elements are more easily understood. The earth section includes da Vinci’s printing press design; an olive oil press; a revolving crane; an early odometer; an intricate machine for lifting large objects such as pillars; and da Vinci’s notion of a 15th-century automated robot in knight’s armor.

An ancient hydraulic saw is brought to life through the force of water onto a paddlewheel. Among the most ingenious devices is one of da Vinci’s simplest inventions—a hygrometer. The apparatus operates much like a set of scales. A chunk of wax is placed on one of two balanced trays and strands of cotton fill the other. Wax will not absorb water. However, as cotton takes on water from the atmosphere, it begins to outweigh the wax, forcing the scales into imbalance. A horizontal calibrated scale carved into the piece of wood joining the two balanced trays indicates the degree of humidity.

Da Vinci’s early parachute design resembles a pyramid, with cloth stretched across wooden beams from which a human is suspended while theoretically floating to the ground. His flying machines include a crude wooden version of a helicopter that is operated by the pilot’s arms, legs, and head. Da Vinci’s early designs for gliders are on display as well.

The weapons designed by da Vinci include an “armored” car whose odd shell is wooden, not metallic. The tank’s movement across terrain is powered by eight soldiers operating four large wheels that extend beneath the vehicle. A main turret with holes in its exterior allows a passenger to spot enemy troops; cannons protruding from the tank’s perimeter may be fired in the direction commanded. Another weapon displayed is da Vinci’s machine gun, which is a wheeled cart with 11 metal gun barrels fanning out like the prongs of a rake, designed to wipe out a larger swath of the enemy.

Unlike many McWane exhibits, Machines in Motion will probably be of greater interest to adults than children. Da Vinci never constructed any of his inventions, leaving the task to later generations. Most of the machines displayed are interactive and operational. The exhibit brings da Vinci’s sketches and words into the three-dimensional, functioning world, leaving viewers with a new appreciation for the world’s original renaissance man.

Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion will be exhibited at the McWane Science Center through April 26. For additional information, call 714-8300 or visit www.mcwane.org.