The Ornithopter Many people know Leonardo da Vinci today as an artist, and it is true that he was indeed a great painter and sculptor, but he was also an inventor and one of the first individuals in recorded history to draft detailed plans for a flying machine.

In order to make a living, Leonardo often depended upon wealthy individuals who would commission work from him. That means they would hire him and pay him to create specific work they wanted. In 1482, when he was 30 years old, Leonardo heard of an opportunity to work for Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. The duke, however, did not want a painter; he wanted a military engineer to help him defend the city against its enemies. This was an excellent opportunity that would pay Leonardo well, but Leonardo was a peaceful man. He considered war to be “a beastly madness.” He preferred to make things of beauty.

Leonardo made the decision that he could tolerate making weapons if the resources the duke could provide would also allow him to create things he loved. He sent a letter to the duke detailing his skills in designing and building weapons. “I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuchets and other instruments of wonderful efficiency…I will make an infinite number of items for attack and defense,” he wrote.

Leonardo’s letter convinced the duke of his talents, and he got the job. He set about designing the weapons that the duke desired. But Leonardo was infinitely creative, always thinking of new things, new ideas—he could not be limited to weapons alone. One idea that he had not mentioned in his application was the ornithopter. It was not a weapon of war, and it was not something that the duke had asked for, but Leonardo went ahead and designed it anyway.

Leonardo was fascinated by the idea of flight. The word “ornithopter” comes from two words meaning “bird” and “wings.” And on first inspection, his plans resembled a bird’s wings attached to a human being’s arms. He concluded that a human being’s arms were neither strong enough nor light enough to stay in the air for long. So, his design included sets of foot pedals and levers that were operated with the hands. He created detailed plans and presented them to the duke, uncertain of how the duke would react to a design for which he didn’t ask.

As it turned out, the duke was very impressed with the ornithopter, but it wasn’t Leonardo’s innovation that excited him. He immediately thought of the ways this machine could be used in war. If a spy could fly over the enemy’s camp, imagine what information he could gather! This was not what Leonardo had intended for his beautiful flying machine.

But how Leonardo felt about war turned out not to matter in the end. His ornithopter was never built—along with his designs for tanks, parachutes, diving suits, machine guns, and even robots that he created for the duke. The ideas of Leonardo da Vinci were centuries ahead of the technology needed to make them.

What is a central idea of "The Ornithopter"?

Select the two correct answers.

A. The ornithopter was one of history's earliest flying machines.

B. Leonardo felt conflicted about building weapons of war for the duke.

C. The ornithopter was the result of da Vinci's fascination with flight.

D. Leonardo da Vinci was a great engineer as well as a great painter.