Leonardo da Vinci was a great inventor in addition to being an artist.  He was fascinated with science, and used it as the basis of his inventions.  Da Vinci made an impact on the art world with such famous art pieces as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.  

Perhaps an equally significant impact was made by da Vinci's engineering inventions.  Da Vinci often sketched his ideas and inventions.  Some of his sketches were precursors to modern inventions.  

Fascinated with flying, da Vinci studied birds.  He analyzed the movement of their wings and included those observations in his sketches.  Da Vinci sketched a precursor to the modern parachute.  He also designed several flying machines, which have features of modern aircraft.  

Da Vinci was fascinated with the human body and he sketched it extensively.  His drawings are amazingly accurate in a time when medical knowledge was limited.