Sheet Discussing Water Wave Motion from Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci

(Original Caption) : Sheet 4B: Water is the subject of this sheet. On folio 4v, Leonardo focuses on the "reflected motion" of water and the percussive force of waves. On the right page, he discusses the flow of rivers and their resulting impact on riverbeds. 4V SYNOPSIS: On this page Leonardo addresses the fluid dynamics of water with the idea of measuring its velocity in quantitative terms. His descriptions of waves breaking and bouncing back take into account the complexity of their compound motion in both visual and geometric terms. We can follow his geometric analysis of the action of rebounding waves as a three-dimensional curling motion; as the wave descends from a higher point, it converges toward the center of a lunar curvature: "A wave does not bend or break on the side of its ordinary descent because the water runs away and finds no obstacle, but in its rise, from which it (Photo by Seth Joel/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)