Technology The New York Times
For activating pile drivers (Codex Leicester, fol. 28v [ca. 1505]) or excavation machines (Codex Atlanticus, fols. 1v-b, 331v-a), Leonardo used the burden of males, who by running up ladders and returning on a descending platform, would raise the rant or monkey. Leonardo used the identical system for lifting heavier loads with cranes, the counterweight being “one ox and one manâ€; lifting capacity was further elevated by making use of a differential windlass to the arm of the crane (ibid., fol. 363v-b [ca. 1495]).. Although simple twine drives had been recognized because the Middle Ages, Leonardo’s …


