Monday, May 25, 2020
Habits and Traits of Japanese Beetles, Popillia japonica
Is there a garden pest worse than the Japanese beetle? First, the beetle grubs destroy your lawn, and then the adult beetles emerge to feed on your leaves and flowers. Knowledge is power when it comes to controllingà this pest in your yard. Description The Japanese beetles body is a striking metallic green, with copper-colored elytra (wing covers) covering the upper abdomen. The adult beetle measures just about 1/2 inch in length. There are five distinctive tufts of white hairs line each side of the body, and two additional tufts marking the tip of the abdomen. These tufts distinguish the Japanese beetle from other similar species. Japanese beetle grubs are white, with brown heads, and reach about 1 inch in length when mature. First instarà (a developmental stage between molting) grubs measure just a few millimeters in length. The grubs curl into a C shape. Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: ColeopteraFamily: ScarabaeidaeGenus: PopilliaSpecies: Popillia japonica Diet Adult Japanese beetles are not picky eaters, and thats what makes them such an impactful pest. Theyll feed on both the foliage and flowers of several hundred species of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials. The beetles eat plant tissues between the leaf veins, skeletonizing the foliage. When beetle populations get high, the pests may completely strip a plant of flower petals and foliage. Japanese beetle grubs feed on organic matter in the soil and on the roots of grasses, including turfgrass. High numbers of grubs may destroy turf in lawns, parks, and golf courses. Life Cycle Eggs hatch in late summer, and grubs begin to feed on plant roots. Mature grubs overwinter deep in the soil, below the frost line. In spring, grubs migrate upward and resume feeding on plant roots. By early summer, the grub is ready to pupate within an earthen cell in the ground. Adults emerge from late June into summer. They feed on foliage and mate during the day. Females excavate soil cavities several inches deep for their eggs, which they lay in masses. In most parts of its range, the Japanese beetle life cycle takes just a year, but in northern areas, it may stretch to two years. Special Behaviors and Defenses Japanese beetles travel in packs, flying and feeding together. Males use highly sensitive antennae to detect and locate female mates. Though Japanese beetles are despised for their voracious appetites for just about anything green, there is one plant that stops them in their tracks, literally. Geraniums have an odd effect on Japanese beetles and may be the key to defeating these pests. Geranium petals cause temporary paralysis in Japanese beetles, rendering themà completely immobile for as long as 24 hours. While this doesnt kill them directly, it leaves them vulnerable to predators. Habitat With such a variety of potential host plants, Japanese beetles are well suited to live just about anywhere. Popillia japonica inhabits forests, meadows, fields, and gardens. Japanese beetles even find their way to urban backyards and parks. Range: Although the Japanese beetle is native to eastern Asia, this species was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1916. Japanese beetles are now established throughout the eastern U.S. and parts of Canada. Intermittent populations occur in the western U.S. Sources Eureka Alert: Geraniums Could Help Control Devastating Japanese Beetle
Thursday, May 14, 2020
The Perception Of The Eye - 966 Words
The eye is immediately drawn to the incredible brightness on the left half of the image, showing the people who are going to be gunned down mercilessly as the viewerââ¬â¢s eye is further directed by the manââ¬â¢s undoubtedly distressed visage towards the very things threatening his life. The lack of color is apparent as it all feels very muted outside of the only source of light being placed on the men who are in danger. The darkness and tones of brown and gray on the soldiers in contrast to the very bright, and light tones of the one countryman and his compatriots appears to display a sort of good versus evil struggle going on. If your eyes are not instantly drawn to the illuminated men then it is very likely that the guns would command your awareness, being at the literal center of the image painting. The firearms pointed at the men can only signal severe negativity as you only ever point any type of gun at something you intend to shoot, and you only shoot if you intend to ki ll. The entire painting is very heart-rending as it depicts men taking other menââ¬â¢s lives for seemingly no reason at all. An individual is unable to empathize with the soldiers as they are dehumanized in this image. To elucidate the reasons that said soldiers are deprived of positive human qualities one must simply look for a face, there is none. They donââ¬â¢t give the impression of being malcontent with the situation because they are plainly unable to show any feeling. Comparatively the men cowering against theShow MoreRelatedThe Perception Of The Human Eye1689 Words à |à 7 PagesIntroduction According to the dictionary, a sensation is the operation or function of the senses; perception or awareness of stimuli through the senses, while a perception is the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of thesenses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. The eye is defined as white membrane that contains an opening for light to get to the retina. The eye is developed in a way that it receives physical stimuli like light and send it to the brain as an electricalRead MorePerception Of Oneself Through The Eyes Of The White Culture1695 Words à |à 7 PagesPerception of Oneself through the Eyes of the White Culture: A Feminist Perspective Alongside its umbrageous depiction of African American female identity and its shrewd criticism of the internalized racism cultivated by American cultural definitions of beauty, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison has been inspiring a propagation of literature written by African American women about their experience as women of color. Inspired by a conversation Morrison had with one of her students who wished for blueRead MoreThe Perception Of An Art Management Student s Eyes Essay1359 Words à |à 6 Pagesand give them a creative and colorful life as well. Music, operas, and plays go deeply into our humanââ¬â¢s life, but nobody notices that the art industry has a shortfall and received limited helps from government right now. In the perception of an art management studentââ¬â¢s eyes, the art have a shortage in human resources, which will strongly affect humanââ¬â¢s life transparently. This issue can break down into five pieces. Lacking of human resources means there will be a low college enrollment rate in artRead MoreThe Effect Of An Auditory Signals On Ones Perception Of Eye Gaze1252 Words à |à 6 Pagesresearchers studied the effect of an auditory signal on oneââ¬â¢s perception of eye gaze. They mention that people are born with the ability to differentiate between direct and adverted gaze, and this ability becomes increasingly important throughout adulthood. Another important social signal involves a personââ¬â¢s auditory system. In infancy, children become sensitive to hearing their own name. This auditory signal often occurs at the same time as direct eye contact. The researchers in this study were tryingRead MoreUnderstanding Perceptions Of Products Through The Eyes Of Various Consumers1378 Words à |à 6 Pages3. From these descriptions, summarize each of three brands ââ¬Ëpersonalities. P.162 P.163 For this assignment I made a strategic decision to interview at least one person in their 20ââ¬â¢s 30ââ¬â¢s 40 and 50ââ¬â¢s to further understand perceptions of products through the eyes of various consumers in terms of age, gender and lifestyle. For the purpose of question three; we will look at the brand personalities I formed after analyzing and cross-examining the data collected from each interview. Following questionRead MoreEssay about Platos The Allegory of the Cave818 Words à |à 4 Pagesthat there are two different forms of vision, a ââ¬Å"mindââ¬â¢s eyeâ⬠and a ââ¬Å"bodily eye.â⬠The ââ¬Å"bodily eyeâ⬠is a metaphor for the senses. While inside the cave, the prisoners function only with this eye. The ââ¬Å"mindââ¬â¢s eyeâ⬠is a higher level of thinking, and is mobilized only when the prisoner is released into the outside world. This eye does not exist within the cave; it only exists in the real, perfect world. The ââ¬Å"bodily eyeâ⬠relies on sensory perceptions about the world in order to determine what is realityRead MoreDifferent Cues Affect Binocular And Monocular Vision1328 Words à |à 6 PagesMany researchers are interested in depth perception and how different cues affect what is seen. There have been lots of studies done around depth perception. Some have done studies on how different cues affect binocular and monocular vision in depth perception (Reinhardt-Rutland, 1996). Others have studied how depth cues are used in tasks like computer- and video-based tasks (Westerman Cribbin, 1998). Visual depth perception is using cues to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distanceRead MoreD PSY345 Cindy Larson r1 Week One Worksheet Essay754 Words à |à 4 Pagesbetween sensation and perception. Explain the importance of separating these concepts. The differences between sensation and perception is that sensation is the elementary elements that, according to structuralist, combine to create perception. Whereas, perception is the conscious sensory experience (Goldstein, 2014). This student has always looked at sensations as those things in a personsââ¬â¢s environment that one can see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and feel. On the other hand perception is how a personââ¬â¢sRead MoreVisual Perception Of The Human Body Are Vision, Audition, Olfaction, Gustation, And Somatosensory998 Words à |à 4 PagesThe five senses of the human body are vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, and somatosensory. Vision is the sense dealing with sight. Vision is most sensitive t o light. The main part of our vision comes through our eyes and is processed through our brain. Audition is the sense of hearing. Audition is obtained through our ears picking up vibrations and processing the sounds we hear. Olfaction is the sense of smelling. Olfaction occurs through our olfactory receptor neurons being stimulated by aRead MoreThe Bluest Eye Essay1462 Words à |à 6 PagesToni Morrisonââ¬â¢s The Bluest Eye (1970) takes place in Ohio towards the tail end of the depression. The story focuses on the character of Pecola Breedlove who wants to have blue eyes. Pecola becomes convinced that if she had blue eyes her life would be different. Through the eyes of our narrator, Claudia, and her sister Frieda we see the pervasive racism and abuse Pecola is subjected to. Claudia and Frieda act as witnesses to Pecolaââ¬â¢s disintegration and as a result, they will spend the rest of their
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Leadership Is A Key Factor Of Leadership - 1326 Words
Distributed leadership is not associated with designated leadership roles; in fact, it focuses more on the practice of leadership. It primarily focuses on opportunities for change and advancement. This concept is important because leadership is more than just a position of authority. Leadership is all about the influence, talents, and capabilities of an individual. According to Hargreaves (2007), a distributed perspective on leadership acknowledges the work of anyone who contribute to leadership practice, whether or not they are formally designated or defined as leaders. Leadership roles and years of experience is not the main focus. Expertise, confidence, resilience, and many other key characteristics are what are most significant. Leadership, specifically effective leadership, has many key themes associated with it. Confidence is a key factor of leadership. A leader must have a certain aura about them. People will not follow or believe in a leader who is not confident in who they are, what they believe, or what they say. Confidence assures followers that things are under control. Confidence also enables effective decision-making. Furthermore, confidence opens the door to so many other valuable character traits. If a leader is confident, he or she will also be motivated, ambitious, and prone to success. A leader must be ready to present themselves in an assured manner at all times. In order for followers to believe in this confidence, a leader must be credible.Show MoreRelatedLeadership Is A Key Factor Essay1273 Words à |à 6 PagesLeadership means the ability of a superior to influence the behaviour of subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular course of action (Barnard, 1938)Effective leadership is a key factor in the life and success of an organisation. There are many theories of leadership have been proposed like Great man theory, trait theory , The managerial grid and Theory X and Theory Y as itââ¬â¢s a part of behaviour theory and Participative theory. There are many traits and skill of person which makes normalRead MoreLeadership In A Public Sector Can Be A Key Factor In How1444 Words à |à 6 PagesLeadership in a public sector can be a key factor in how successful the organization can strive to be. Leadership is an important component in organizing and operating a successful and functional organization. Management, however, also plays a vital role in the achievements of the organization. Leadership and management must work hand in hand to ensure the established goals and purposes of a company or organization are being achieved. It also determines if the needs of the people are being met. OneRead MoreM3.10 Introduction to Leadership and M3.36 Leading a Team Effectively966 Words à |à 4 Pageslikely to produce marks in the 40s, 50s or 70s above). Level 3 FLM: optional assessment: M3.10 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP AND M3.36 LEADING A TEAM EFFECTIVELY Criteria Descriptors Connect the team with vision and strategy â⬠¢ Explain the importance of the team having a common sense of purpose that supports the overall vision and strategy of the organisation or project â⬠¢ Explain the key role that communication plays in establishing a common sense of purpose and assess the effectiveness of own communicationRead MoreLeadership Goals And Objectives Of A Leader Essay1354 Words à |à 6 Pagesââ¬Å"Desire is the key to motivation, but itââ¬â¢s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goalà a commitment to excellenceà that will enable you to attain the success you seekâ⬠. -Mario Andretti Leadership is the process of motivating others to work to meet specific goals and objectives. A leader motivates others to action. Thus, it is the motivation of others and their actions that defines a successful leader. In other words, leadership is the art and science of getting others toRead MoreReshaping Organizational Culture Using the Burke-Litwin Model1110 Words à |à 4 Pagesoccurs. The organizational change process is driven by twelve different factors. The factors are integrated, such that a change in one factor will have an effect on all of the other factors. The team at CGIAR took this approach to their change program, focusing on a few factors that they believed were the key drivers of change. The twelve different factors are the external environment as the key input, mission strategy, leadership, organizational culture, structure, management practices, work unitRead MoreLeadership Is It An Art Or A Science? Essay1714 Words à |à 7 PagesLeadership Leadership, is it an art or a science? Perhaps leadership is best described as a conglomeration of knowledge, experience, and personal attributes that can be used to influence others (Bethel, 2011). While some people obviously possess characteristics commonly associated with strong leaders, not all is lost. Leadership is ever evolving and many aspects of effective leadership can be gained through experience and education. Leadership is a complex product that is a fundamental part ofRead MoreWhat Makes A Good Leader?1507 Words à |à 7 Pageswho leads other people. But what makes someone a leader? How come some people are leaders and some people are not? How can someone become a leader? Before we can examine what makes a good leader, we have to understand what is the meaning of leadership. Leadership is a topic that has interested historians and philosophers since ancient times. Introducing the expression ââ¬Å"managers are people who do things right, and leaders are people who do the right thingâ⬠, Bennis and Nanus (1985) asserted that an individualRead MoreTransformational Leadership : The New Leadership Paradigm1344 Words à |à 6 Pagesââ¬Å"Transformational Leadership: The New Leadership Paradigmâ⬠Boosting morale, increasing motivation, and elevating job performance of followers are all dynamics of a transformational leader. Transformational leadership can be defined as a leaderââ¬â¢s approach to nurture and empower followers. This type of a leader exhibits charismatic and visionary tendencies. As its name suggests, a transformational leader transforms and changes people. The emergence of transformational leadership as an approachRead MoreThe Value Of Good Management1664 Words à |à 7 Pagesplay an important role in a company achieving success, which means making a correct decision in order to achieve a particular purpose, plan, organize, direct, operate and control process. The purpose of good management is efficiency and benefit. The key of management is people and the principle of management is to organization, organization s centre is people. The essence of good management is the collection of various kinds of resources; make full use of the function of management, to get the bestRead MoreTheories Of Leadership Styles And Job Satisfaction Among Employees Serve As Predictors Of Innovation1399 Words à |à 6 Pagesframework of this study is grounded in contingency theory, Adamsââ¬â¢ Equity Theory, Herzbergââ¬â¢s Two Factor theory, and the transformational-transactional organizational theories of leadership. Traditional leadership and motivational theories have failed to address how leadership styles and job satisfaction among employees serve as predictors of innovation in organizations. The strategic literature highlights leadership style and employee job satisfaction as an especially important influence on organizational
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Leonardo Da Vinci modern review Essay Example For Students
Leonardo Da Vinci modern review Essay You are about to read a story of Leonardo Da Vinci. We hasten to tell you we have another variant Leonardos biography. Leonardo Da Vinci (Born 1452. Died 1519) The fourth centenary of Leonardo da Vinci has been celebrated in Italy; in England the date of the death of this strange and legendary figure of the latter half of the fifteenth century, who was still climbing after knowledge infinite,â⬠has passed almost unnoticed. Always one of the worldââ¬â¢s greatest namesââ¬âfor no artist of the past lent himself so readily to apotheosis ââ¬â his fame has grown with the revelation of his greatness as a man of science. Other sons of the Renaissance, such as Leon Battista Alberti, were gifted with comprehensive genius, but the quality of Leonardoââ¬â¢s endowment dwarfs their record when we sum up his activities as painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, hydraulician, anatomist, mathematician, geologist, botanist, astronomer, and geographer. Apart from his guesses and achievements in these provinces, there is something in his personal character ââ¬Å"super-European and silent,â⬠as Nietzsche terms it, ââ¬Å"the character- istic of one who has seen too wide a circle of things good and evil.â⬠He behaved in such a way as to arouse the wonder of his contemporaries. ââ¬Å"He dressed with originality and distinction, bore himself impressively. Sur- rounded, so to speak, by censer-swinging acolytes, he acted the part of hierophant and modern Empedocles, and was not far from being a precursor of Paracelsus.â⬠He wasà unconditioned, above the law, the divine artist, the worker of miracles. Yet he was a solitary in the midst of court life, in the changes and chances of his employment, and speaks of the necessity of the solitary life in no uncertain voice: ââ¬Å"If you are alone, you belong entirely to yourself; if you are accompanied even by one companion, you belong only half to yourself, or even less in proportion to the thoughtlessness of his conduct; and if you have more than one companion, vou will fall more deeply into the same plight.â⬠* We see how the strange and solitary power is impressed on his red chalk drawing in his old age of his silent face. The index of a mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of thought alone.â⬠For all his cryptic utterances and the reserve of his spirit, we must not suppose that he was in any respect a charlatan, a suspicion that clings to the name of Para- celsus. His notebooks bear witness to the intense and laborious concentration of his mind upon the problems of science, physics, or engineering he had set before himself, to his patient and manifold industry, the ordered continuity and range of his effort. His personal character, as shown in the glass of his notebooks rather than in the distorting mirror of Vasariââ¬â¢s famous Life, reveals an authentic greatness. ââ¬Å"I wish,â⬠he says, ââ¬Å"to work miracles; I may have fewer possessions than other men who are more tranquil and those who wish to grow rich in a day.â⬠ââ¬Å"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.â⬠ââ¬Å"Our body is subject to heaven, and heaven is subject to the spirit.â⬠ââ¬Å"Where there is most power of feeling, there of mar- tyrs is the greatest martyr.â⬠ââ¬Å"Intellectual passion drives out sensuality.â⬠ââ¬Å"To the ambitious, whom neither the boon of life nor the beauty of the world suffices to content, it comes as a penance that life with them is squandered, and that they possess neither the benefits nor the beauty of the world.â⬠These sublimations of Leonardoââ¬â¢s experience are expressed with a concision which renders him, like Blake, the master of significant language. Leonardoââ¬â¢s life is a paradox. He recommends for the artist a life spent in the seclusion of the studio; his own was spent in courts; a wanderer, from place to place Florence, Milan, Rome, finally Amboise in France. The most laborious of men, he has left little realized and achieved work in building and the arts behind him. None of his monumental projects of construction or town-planning seem to have been carried out, most of his paintings and sculptures were never executed, others were left half finished. He has survived his masterpieces. Modern research has shown him to have been, not the capricious and inconstant artist whose performance was always less than his promise, but the most learned of painters, studying with the intentness of a scientist the medium in which he worked, the structure of the human body, plants, trees, and rocks, in order that he should know their essence and inner reality. His habit of scientific investigation* in the end drew him aside from the practice of his art; he was rapt away by the Virgilian passion rerum cognoscere causas. It was impossible, Isabella dââ¬â¢Este found, to get a picture out of him. She had applied to a friar of the Carmelite Order whom she knew, to know what manner of life the master was leading, and the answer was returned that he was ââ¬Å"entirely wrapped up in geometry, and has no patience for painting.â⬠The whole world of knowledge was his province. In reading his notebooks there is at first a feeling of dis- appointment at the meagerness of the scientific result, but this is counterbalanced by the realization that he is the first of the moderns in his belief in experimental methods, his distrust for mere authority in science as in the arts he practised. ââ¬Å"Whoever in discussion,â⬠he writes, ââ¬Å"adduces authority, uses not intellect, but rather memory.â⬠4 He has been loosely said to have been the forerunner of Bacon, Watt, Newton and Harvey, but it cannot be maintained that he anticipated their discoveries in any definite sense. Though he set down in unusually large letters ââ¬Å"the sun does not move,â⬠9 and surmised that the earth was a star ââ¬Å"much like the moon,â⬠and knew that blood moved,* and so forth, his actual achievements were in the invention of certain ingenious devices, such as the diving-bell and the lifebelt, and in the employment of a definitely scientific method, as in his discovery of the significance of fossils found in the mountain ridges of Lombardy as showing the waters at one time covered the earth. ââ¬Å"If you should say that the shells which are visible at the present time within the borders of Italy, far away from the sea at great heights, are due to the Flood having de- posited them there, I reply that, granting this Flood to have risen seven cubits above the highest mountain. those shells which always inhabit near the shores of the sea à ought to be found lying on the mountain side, and not at so short a distance above their bases, and all at the same level, layer upon layer. Should you say that the nature of these shells is to keep near the edge of the sea, and that as the sea rose in height the shells left their former place and followed the rising waters to their highest level: ââ¬âto this I reply that the cockle is incapable of more rapid movement than a snail out of water, or is even somewhat slower, since it does not swim, but makes a furrow in the sand, and supporting itself by means of the sides of this furrow it will travel between three and four braccia a day; and therefore with such a motion as this it could not have traveled from the Adriatic Sea as far as Monferrato in Lombardy, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, in forty days. Art History: The Movement II: People EssayHe sings hymns to Law and Causation: ââ¬Å"Nature never breaks her own law. ââ¬Å"O marvelous necessity, thou with supreme reason constrainest all efforts to be the direct result of their causes, and by a supreme and irrevocable law every natural action obeys thee by the shortest possible process. ââ¬Å"Who would believe that so small a space could contain the images of all the universe? O mighty process, what talent can avail to penetrate a nature such as thine? What tongue will it be that can unfold so great a wonder? Verily none. This it is that guides the human discourse to the considering of divine things.â⬠Leonardo, who sums up war as a ââ¬Å"bestial frenzyâ⬠(in à the descriptive passage entitled ââ¬Å"The Way to Represent a Battleâ⬠), was the inventor of numerous engines of war, steam guns and breech-loading arms with screw breech block, and in the draft of a letter in which he offers his services as architect and military engineer to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, he claims that he can ââ¬Å"construct bridges that arc very light and strong and very portable, with which to pursue and defeat the enemy, and others more solid, which resist fire or assault,â⬠also ââ¬Å"a kind of cannon which is light and easy of transport, with which to hurl small stones like hail,â⬠ââ¬Å"catapults, mangonels, tra- bocchi, and other instruments of admirable efficacy not in general use,â⬠and ââ¬Å"armored wagons carrying artillery which shall break through the most serried ranks of the enemy, and so open a safe passage for the infantryâ⬠he can also construct â⬠Å"subterranean passages either straight or winding, passing if necessary underneath trenches or a river. â⬠As far as the evidence of Leonardoââ¬â¢s manuscripts can substantiate the claims put forward, they have been found to have been correct; and Dr. Mà ¼ller-Walde,18 in that por- tion of his work dealing with Leonardo as a military en- gineer, has shown that Leonardo did in fact study the construction and use of the engines of warfare mentioned in the first seven clauses of the letter. In the arts of peace, his schemes and sketches for canalization and the layout of towns are no less remarkable. According to specialistsââ¬â¢ opinions, Benedetto Castelli, who is considered to be the actual originator of the Lombardy canal system, appears to have studied Leonardoââ¬â¢s schemes, in which practical standards for hydraulic engineering are already worked out. He wished to lay out cleaner and healthier cities, so that the people would not need to live ââ¬Å"packed together like goats, and pollute the air for one another,â⬠and proposed to II Moro to build ten cities, each with 5000 houses and accomodating 30,000 inhabitants. These cities are to be seated on rivers regulated by locks; the streets are to be as wide as the height of the houses, and laid out with wide squares and market-places. Moreover, he provides two kinds of streets on different levels, the higher and spotless walks for foot passengers, and the lower for traffic, which can be cleaned by flushi ng from locked rivers.*8 In his notebooks are found a wealth of designs, exhausting every possible combination of circular and polygonal ground-plans for domed public buildings and churches. As he himself states, it was his intention to write a treatise on the theory of cupola construction. His devices and designs for hydraulic work, and for warlike machines, were, for the most part, within the limits of possible construction in his day. It is otherwise with the problem that occupied so much of his time, that of flight. He had for many years watched the flight of birds, and made himself, thanks to an amazingly keen power of fixing rapid movement, familiar with every characteristic of wing action. The subject gives its name to a treatise which exists in a more or less complete formââ¬âII Codice sul volo degli uccelli. and is also treated in the Codice Atlantico and other of Leonardoââ¬â¢s manuscripts. The conviction grew on him that men might raise themselves above the earth on wings, for: ââ¬Å"A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law, which instrument it is within the capacity of man to reproduce, with all its movements, but not with a corresponding degree of strength, though it is deficient only in the power of maintaining equilibrium. We may there- fore say that such an instrument constructed by man is lacking in nothing except the life of the bird, and this life must needs be supplied from that of man.â⬠Flight is a natural phenomenon, and consequently its laws are to be deduced by observation of nature. Yet Leonardo doubted the adequacy of strength of the human agent to accomplish more than short flights, and sought to supplement it by a screw-propeller. He has a drawing of a large screw constructed to revolve round a vertical axis. ââ¬Å"The notes at the side and below the drawing tell of the materials and dimensions, and reveal also the purpose which it was intended to serve. M. Govi, who first called attention to the significance of these passages, speaks of them as proving not only that Leonardo invented the screw-propeller, but that he had considered small paper models for this purpose, which were set in motion by fine bent steel wires.â⬠He must have, at one moment, at any rate, felt sure of success, when he wrote triumphantly that ââ¬Å"the huge bird will take his first flight high aloft on the ridge of his great Ceceriââ¬âthe mountain between Majano and Fiesoleââ¬âhe will fill the universe with wonder and all writings with his fame.â⬠The experimental flight must have failed, but from his own day Leonardo has not been judged by his achievement, for, in the words of his earliest biographer, ââ¬Å"his spirit was never at rest, his mind was ever devising new things.ââ¬
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)