Eternal Life

The Vitruvian Man is a famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist. It shows a man in two positions, with his arms and legs spread out, inside a circle and a square. The drawing is based on the writings of Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect, who described the ideal proportions of the human body. Leonardo wanted to explore the relationship between man and nature, and how the human body reflects the harmony of the universe. He also used his own measurements and observations, as well as the works of other artists and scholars, to create his own version of the perfect human figure. The drawing is very detailed and precise, with notes and calculations in Leonardo’s characteristic mirror writing. It is considered one of the most iconic images of Western civilization, and a symbol of the Renaissance spirit of art and science. It's now kept in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy, but it is rarely displayed to the public because of its fragility and sensitivity to light. It was loaned to the Louvre in 2019 for a special exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death. [Courtesy of leonardodavinci.net]

Happy 136th Birthday to Erwin Schrödinger (b. 1887 - d. 1961), one of the pioneers and titans of Quantum mechanics, and a prolific writer on physics and philosophy. Schrödinger was a brilliant physicist who made significant contributions to the development of quantum mechanics. He is best known for his Schrödinger equation, which is a mathematical formula that relates the wave function of a system to its energy and potential. The wave function is a complex function that describes the probability of finding a particle in a given state or location. The Schrödinger equation allows physicists to calculate how the wave function changes over time and under different conditions. Schrödinger also proposed a famous thought experiment called Schrödinger’s cat, which illustrates the paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics. He also wrote on various topics such as statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, color theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, cosmology, and philosophy. He was interested in the relationship between physics and biology, and wrote a book called What Is Life?, which explored the physical basis of life and genetics. He studied ancient and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion, and expressed his views on these subjects in his book My View of the World. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933, along with Paul Dirac, for his work on quantum mechanics. He was also honored with many other prizes and medals for his scientific achievements. Schrödinger was a remarkable scientist who advanced our understanding of the physical world and inspired many other researchers and thinkers. He was also a complex and controversial person who had unconventional views on politics, morality, and spirituality. He died in 1961 in Vienna, his birthplace. [Image credits: akg-images/IMAGNO/Votava]