How Many of Da Vinci’s Inventions Actually Worked?
The first tanks, helicopters and robots
Leonardo Da Vinci was an undisputed master of renaissance art, but his contributions to civil engineering, hydrodynamics, physics and geometry, as well as many, many others, made him the quintessential renaissance man.
In recent years renewed interest in Da Vinci’s journals and inventions has led many to wonder whether the designs he sketched in his journals worked, and which, if any, he built prototypes of.
The 33 Barrelled Organ
Despite the misleading name, the 33 Barrelled Organ was not an organ, nor did it have thirty-three barrels. It was, in fact, one of the first examples we have of a machine gun. Essentially, eleven muskets were mounted on a platform, which could be wheeled like a canon, and the device was rigged to fire each musket one after the other.
Why it’s known as the 33 Barrelled Organ is unclear, but the name Organ Gun also appears to have been used, perhaps because the design was reminiscent of the pipes of an organ. From our modern perspective, the 33 Barrelled Organ isn’t a machine gun. In…
