[rerdavies]

One of the things that irritates me a little about Da Vinci is he gets disproportionate credit for inventing things that don't actually work. The list of things he invented that he actually got to work is vanishingly small.

Even when claims are made that he is "prescient", there has never been, nor will there ever be a functional "helicopter" that looks like Da Vinci's helicopter.

[spaceman_2020]

You always compare people against their contemporaries. Da Vinci has his reputation because he was exploring ideas far above and beyond his contemporaries, and because his breadth of knowledge and skills covered a wide swathe of subjects.

[ly3xqhl8g9]

His killing machines seemed to work just fine [1], although some seem to go towards a more interesting counterpoint for when HBO will make the inevitable series Da Vinci: The Machine, staring Leonardo di Caprio [2].

[1] How Leonardo da Vinci made a living from killing machines, https://theconversation.com/how-leonardo-da-vinci-made-a-liv...

[2] Leonardo’s War Machines – The Italian Genius May Have Deliberately Sabotaged His Own Designs, https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/leonardos-war-machi...

[wizzwizz4]

> there has never been, nor will there ever be a functional "helicopter" that looks like Da Vinci's helicopter.

No: it has no stabilising rotor. However, there could be a functional quadcopter using four of Da Vinci's aerial screws: https://www.cnet.com/science/this-drone-flies-using-da-vinci...