Essay, Research Paper: River

I liked reading this book. It was about Leonardo Da Vinci and his relationship with Niccolo Machiavelli. I didn t know that Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli had a relationship, and I only knew about Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo was a famous artist and sculptor, and I found out that Machiavelli was an ambassador in Florence. Leonardo and Machiavelli both lived in Florence, Italy in the early 1500 s.
There was a problem in Florence, Italy in the early 1500 s. The Arno River, the main export source of Florence, wasn t connected to the sea, and that made the trading with other countries, and areas more difficult. It was Leonardo s and Machiavelli s dream to connect the Arno river by a series of canals, that would make the Arno river connect with the Ocean.
At first it seemed like a great idea, and from two of the best minds, it seemed like it could be accomplished. They set out to have it built and realized that they were going about it all wrong. At first the first canal was made for military. Its purpose was to cut off water supply from Pisa, rather than connect the Arno river to the Ocean. The city of Florence did a poor job of hiring too few workmen, and there was not enough work done. Where the work was done, it was not done properly enough, and the ditches of the canals were really too shallow, and when the river flooded, it washed away all of the work done by the too few workmen. When all of the work of these years was washed away, the government of Florence, and the workers, decided just to abandon the work being done. To leave it all behind.
There were many other failed attempts by the genius Leonardo, and then he decided that he would be able to get the most work done, by getting other Italian provinces to help him out. He set out for cities such as Milan, Rome, and actually made it all the way out to France. In all of his efforts he managed to raise funds, and work force to come back and help once more build the canals of the Arno River, to connect to the Ocean.
Machiavelli, on the other hand, suffered a lot through this trial. When the canals were washed away, his career was shaken, and he eventually fell out of the power that he had. He was imprisoned and his career ended.
This book was really about the friendship of Leonardo and Machiavelli, and how they helped each other through a mutual dream. It seemed that Leonardo was very focused on the Arno project, as Machiavelli wasn t. In the end, it proved that the more diligent of men thrived, and the other was sent to jail.
One of the more interesting things about the relationship between the two men, was how little they actually talked. They hardly ever, throughout the book, had any conversations, and were often corresponding through letters. This leads me to believe that maybe the relationship, the friendship, wasn t as good as the author made it out to be. And maybe the failed attempt was how it was supposed to be. When there was two men, who, maybe, weren t working all the way together, then at some point, they failed, and together, the Arno project was never finished.
I think that maybe the reason for the relationship was more a gain for Machiavelli. Machiavelli wasn t very well liked in his life, and Leonardo, on the other hand, was rich from many patriots. Everything that happened in the book seemed to be Leonardo helping out Machiavelli. I wonder what Leonardo got out of it.
You would think that when two of the greatest minds in history came together, that they could accomplish anything that was put in front of them. You would think that they would easily defeat any problems.
It was written how Leonardo was ahead of his time in the field of sciences and mathematics. He would invent many different things, and solve many problems for people. But when he tried things in politics, he seemed to fail. Machiavelli, on the other hand, an atheist, was really good at politics, and manipulation. Maybe the relationship between these great minds was in fact a mutualism. Maybe they were just using each other to accomplish great things in their lives.
Over all, this was a great book, and it taught me a lot about Leonardo Da Vinci, and Machiavelli. I didn t know they had a relationship, and I didn t know that they tried to move a river. It seems that even the greatest of minds are limited to some things.