A Dreamer and a Drawer
Since early childhood, it seems that Da Vinci was fascinated by technology (in its most basic sense). His sketches of flying machines and the rhombicuboctahedron (look it up) show that Da Vinci was obsessed with meticulously illustrating the mechanics of machinery and geometric design.
The fact that he happened to be one of the most gifted artists of all time certainly helped, too. In fact, even today engineers are able to use Da Vinci’s sketches as blueprints for machinery because of how detailed they were.
Meticulous and Methodical
There are some 13,000 pages of notes and drawings belonging to Da Vinci, and many of them focus on his scientific and technological research and ideas. Some of them are also grocery lists and reminders of people who owed him money, so at least it’s nice to remember that the one thing you probably have in common with one of the greatest thinkers of all time is that both your friends still owe you for that night out.
Da Vinci intended for his notes to be published, but for some reason, he didn’t do this in his lifetime, and it would be many years after his death that his wish was fulfilled.
Beyond His Years
It’s hard to fathom just how ahead of his time Da Vinci actually was, but this might help; His notes on fossils were hugely impactful on early paleontology, he produced one of the first scientific drawings of a foetus in the womb, and Arasse called him “the precursor of French academic thought on art.” Oh, he also taught himself Latin in all of his spare time. Keep in mind, he managed to do all this with only very basic schooling as a child. So don’t be too discouraged if you don’t do so well on your English Final.