Sheet Discussing Rivers and Erosion from Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci

(Original Caption) : Sheet 5B: Leonardo provides a geometric analysis of riverbank erosion on folio 5v. On folio 32r, he synthesizes many aspects of hydraulics, including riverbank erosion, and constructs a cascade of intertwining currents of water for the steps at La Sforzesca , his patron's country villa. 5V SYNOPSIS: This and the facing page address the erosion of riverbanks under various circumstances. Drawings in the margin illustrate Leonardo's geometric analyses of the effects of the movement and pressure that different water currents exert on riverbanks as well as on any "object placed in front of a bank." He writes concisely, concentrating on technical engineering matters: "Banks overflowed by rivers are affected much differently from those which are not." "The bottom is affected in one way by an increase of water and in another way by a decrease." "Objects interposed betwee (Photo by Seth Joel/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)