Mixing and crossing disciplines: Leonardo da Vinci's holistic approach to knowledge

Abstract

AbstractThere is unanimous consensus on the interdisciplinary nature of Leonardo da Vinci's work due to his holistic vision of the world. Our study aims to point out that da Vinci created links and bridges among concepts belonging to exact and human sciences, revealing not only the interdisciplinary but also the transdisciplinary nature of his approach. This is shown in his notes that reflect the philosophical thoughts and social implications of his observations.More specifically, in order to highlight da Vinci's unique approach to knowledge, we analyse two significant examples never cited nor commented on. The first concerns how da Vinci used quantitative law to deduce and apply fluid dynamics of crowded people flux in surprising ways; the second is related to the architectural study of the arch that suggests da Vinci had some deep thoughts on the world.From this analysis, we conclude that, considering the huge number of relevant “case studies” provided by da Vinci and their semantic density, his approach to knowledge can be framed within innovative philosophical studies on interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity.