Auriea L: water

Research

At times, Da Vinci’s mind would ponder the many realms of water as his observations often triggered writing ideas. As a habit, he would jot down or sketch these thoughts along the margins of his papers while working on other subjects. One such series of notes in the upper right hand corner of one of his papers provides us with his outline for a proposed treatise on water. It was divided into fifteen books, with each book dealing with a different aspect of water:

Of Water in Itself
Of the Sea
Of the Veins
Of Rivers
Of the Nature of Bottoms
Of Objects
Of Various Kinds of Gravel
Of the Surface of Water
Of Things Moving in It
Of River Repairs
Of Conduits
Of Canals
Of Machines Turned by Water
Of Raising Water
Of Things Worn Away by Water