# Leonardo da Vinci overrated as an engineer/scientist?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leonardo-da-vinci-overrated-as-an-engineer-scientist/262304>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 30, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leonardo-da-vinci-overrated-as-an-engineer-scientist/262304 "2004-08-30T21:15:20Z")\
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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leonardo-da-vinci-overrated-as-an-engineer-scientist/262304/1 "2004-08-30T21:15:20Z")

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One often hears harping about Leonardo’s uncanny mechanical designs, including flying machines. But, was a working, practical model ever built from any one of his designs? Are his designs sound from a modern engineering point of view, only it was not possible to construct the parts with the materials and technology of the time? For some examples, see [these](http://www.leonardo.net/flying.html#p2).

Or did the social, religious, and political context make it risky to attempt to build any of these?