da Vinci the Genius

When I first heard that the Mayborn Museum in Waco, TX was doing an exhibit about Leonardo da Vinci, my mind immediately jumped to The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and The da Vinci Code. However, as I read the press release, I realized that this exhibit featured machines that were authentically recreated from sketches that Leonardoda Vinci had drawn.

I toured the Machines in Motion exhibit last week, and was absolutely stunned by the scope of da Vinci's inventions - the man was an engineering genius. I had so much fun going around to all the different machines and trying them out.

One of the exhibits I was particularly interested in was a wooden bicycle. Apparently the bicycle drawing was found in da Vinci's papers, but there is a controversy in the academic world regarding if it's really a da Vinci sketch. Some people attribute the sketch to one of da Vinci's students, while other people insist it was planted in his papers hundreds of years later. If the bicycle drawing really is that of da Vinci or one of his students, that would mean they came up with the concept of a bicycle 400 years sooner than it was actually invented!

If you're in Waco this summer, definitely stop by the Mayborn Museum. There's much more there to see than just the da Vinci exhibits. There is a large section of the museum dedicated to the natural history of Texas - including a recreation of the famous mammoth dig site in Waco, and dinosaur skeletons. There are also many discovery rooms for kids (or if you're like me, a kid at heart) that provide hands on exploring for topics such as: how television works, international cultures, or the human body. There's also a great museum store filled with things that make great gifts.

If you want more information about the Machines in Motion exhibit or the Mayborn Museum visit their website.

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