[Hokusai]

That is just a Archimedes' screw. Well known way before DaVinci.

It's cool that DaVinci got to the conclusion that if moves water it can move air, thou.

There original design used materials from the time, but with an enough powerful engine you can probably make it fly.

[andrewla]

I don't think this is true. Archimedes screw is a similarly shaped helix but contained or partially contained in a tube so that it can move substances by rotary action.

Using a helix as a simple machine is an old concept and probably predates writing; that's about as much of a common ancestor as they share.

[dtgriscom]

Agreed. Archimedes' screw depends on gravity pulling the water to one side of the mechanism; it can't work vertically.

[jjeaff]

Archimedes screw, that's just a wedge invented by cavemen.

Archimedes just had the idea to wrap it around a post.

[tintor]

Microprocessor, that's just melted sand with a little bit of lightning inside.