While reading Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Arundel last evening, I noticed that the Codex had less scholars examining it relative to others. The fluid dynamics of da Vinci have been extensively studied, with entire dissertations dedicated to the subject. I came across a curious drawing that exhibited turbulent flow. The text is written backward in Italian, which is his typical style. Recently, Caltech conducted gravity experiments based on da Vinci’s calculations and were able to determine the constant and coefficient of gravity with great accuracy. This is remarkable, and it makes me wonder whether it is possible to replicate or test some of da Vinci’s ideas regarding turbulent flow. This would be an interesting historical project, but acquiring funding for such a project may be a challenge within the university system. Attached is the scan I took of the particular field in the Codex. This is not the usual drawing that people show when they talk about da Vinci’s turbulence.
