Here are clear reproductions of over 1,200 anatomical drawings by one of humanity's greatest geniuses — still considered, nearly five centuries later, the finest ever rendered. 215 plates.

"First published in hardback 2012 by Royal Collection Trust".-Title page verso.

"Illustrated and with essays by Martin Kemp, Spectacular Bodies reveals a new way of seeing ourselves."--BOOK JACKET.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Elements of the Science of Man describes how Da Vinci integrates his mechanical observations and experiments in mechanics into underlying principles. This book is composed of 17 chapters that highlight the principles underlying Da Vinci's research in anatomical studies. Considerable chapters deal with Leonardo's scientific methods and the mathematics of his pyramidal law, as well as his observations on the human and animal movements. Other chapters describe the artist's anatomical approach to the mechanism of the human body, specifically the physiology of vision, voice, music, senses, soul, and the nervous system. The remaining chapters examine the mechanism of the bones, joints, respiration, heart, digestion, and urinary and reproductive systems.

A quantitative approach to studying human biomechanics, presenting principles of classical mechanics using case studies involving human movement. Vector algebra and vector differentiation are used to describe the motion of objects and 3D motion mechanics are treated in depth. Diagrams and software-created sequences are used to illustrate human movement.