While Harvard boasts of students who excel in various fields, an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science shows that Leonardo da Vinci could combine excellence and diversity in a single mind.

The display, which will run until September, includes scale models of inventions envisioned by Da Vinci and a theatrical show about his life and times, in addition to its 15,000 square feet of art originals and reproductions.

The museum has also increased interactivity in the display by including computer information stations throughout. There are also portable CD-ROM audio guides which are connected via radio with each individual work, allowing observers to go at their own pace.

In addition, visitors can learn to build an arch or paint in perspective with a machine which Da Vinci invented and is still in use today.

There are also attendants stationed throughout the museum who explain some of Da Vinci's other well-known interests, such as his dissections. Staff members at the museum demonstrate to visitors the dissection of sheep eyes, hearts or lungs.

Da Vinci the Scientist

Da Vinci's knowledge of human anatomy was unprecedented in his age. The artist dissected humans and animals for study and learned more about the body's internal organs than anyone else at that time.

Da Vinci studied human anatomy to learn about the dependence of limbs on nerves and joints, experts say.

However, during the 16th century, dissection was considered criminal. And since there were no preservatives, Da Vinci would be forced to work on the bodies for a week while they decomposed.

The museum notes that despite the noxious nature of these experiments, Da Vinci was a sensitive man. Not only was he a vegetarian, but he was known to buy caged animals in order to set them free.

Da Vinci is described as the quintessential Renaissance Man, who not only revolutionized techniques in art, but made huge strides in science as well.

The exhibit portrays Da Vinci as a perennial tinkerer who tried his hand at all sorts of inventions, rarely finishing one before moving on to a new project.

Da Vinci was intrigued by the concept of flight and made several attempts to design flying machines. His concepts range from imitations of bird wings to one sketch which critics have noted closely resembles the modern helicopter.

Despite his humanitarian nature, Da Vinci also created many machines of war. He built a predecessor of the modern tank which would allow soldiers to attack from behind a protected layer of armor.

Controversy Raised