Matt Landrus's Books

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

By: Matt Landrus

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Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

By: Matt Landrus

Although Leonardo’s Giant Crossbow is one of his most popular drawings, it has been one of the least understood. "Leonardo’s Giant Crossbow" offers the first in-depth account of this drawing’s likely purpose and its highly resolved design. This fascinating book has a wealth of technical information about the Giant Crossbow drawing, as it’s a complete study of this project, though this is as accessible to the general audience as much as it is also informative with new discoveries for the professors of engineering, technology and art. The book explores the context of Leonardo’s invention with an examination of the extensive documentary evidence, a short history of the great crossbow and ballista, the first accurate translation of the text and the technical specifications, and a detailed analysis of Leonardo’s design process for the crossbow, from start to finish. Dozens of preparatory drawings, along with the recent discovery of nearly invisible metal stylus preparatory incisions under the ink of the Giant Crossbow drawing, are evidence of Leonardo’s intent to offer engineers and other viewers a thorough design of the massive machine. The book proposes these new discoveries with the help of a strategy that had been at the core of Leonardo’s working philosophy: the proportional method. As proven with an analysis of the Giant Crossbow project, he used a consistent approach to 1/3rd proportions throughout the design and drawing process and employed this kind of proportional strategy at the start of almost every important project. Thanks to this proof of his knowledge of geometry, evidence of his studies of impetus and force, and thanks to the highly polished and complex nature of the Giant Crossbow design, a later date for the drawing is proposed in the present book, associating the drawing with his drafting capabilities around 1490-93.

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Page Count

187

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3540689184

ISBN 13

9783540689188

The Shadows of Socrates

The Heresy, War, and Treachery Behind the Trial of Socrates

By: Matt Gatton

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The Shadows of Socrates

The Heresy, War, and Treachery Behind the Trial of Socrates

By: Matt Gatton

The death of Socrates may be the most famous unsolved murder in history. Set during the Peloponnesian War, this narrative solves that mystery, revealing for the first time how the philosopher was set up, who did it, and why. The influence of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates has been profound. Even today, over two thousand years after his death, he remains one of the most renowned humans to have ever lived, occupying a stratum with the likes of Buddha, Jesus, Muhammed, Confucius, and Moses. It may not be too much to say that Socrates is the single most recognizable name in the history of all humanity. The death of Socrates is, in some ways, the most famous unsolved murder mystery in history. This book will solve the mystery, revealing for the first time how he was set up, who did it, and why. What follows is not a philosophical tract but something closer to a novel—made all the more compelling because it’s true. This is a real-life whodunit intertwined with a long running war, rivalry, sex addiction, betrayal, sedition, starvation, and epic bravery. Socrates was the most rational of men living in the most irrational of times. There is another side to this story: impiety, lack of reverence for the gods, was a religious crime. From the perspective of the religious authorities of the time, the charge of impiety against Socrates was warranted, his trial just, and the penalty appropriate. The priests did not tolerate scrutiny, even in the form of philosophical critique. To understand what happened and how it happened, we have to come to terms with the motives of the priests, and as importantly, Socrates’ motives in provoking them. His trial is perhaps first, but not last, great battle between philosophy and religion. The repercussions of this ancient epic apply equally to the West today, as Athens also endured pendulum swings between democracy and oligarchy—always with bloodshed, and never with Socrates’s approval.

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639365834

ISBN 13

9781639365838

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

By: Matt Landrus

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Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

By: Matt Landrus

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

187

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3540689184

ISBN 13

9783540689188

Book's by Matt Landrus

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

The Shadows of Socrates

The Shadows of Socrates

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow

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