Claim: Leonardo da Vinci made discoveries in civil engineering during the 1400's.
Evidence: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci -LRB- -LSB- leoˈnardo di ˌsɛr ˈpjɛːro da -LRB- v -RRB- ˈvintʃi -RSB- ; 15 April 14522 May 1519 -RRB- , more commonly Leonardo da Vinci or simply Leonardo , was an Italian polymath whose areas of interest included invention , painting , sculpting , architecture , science , music , mathematics , engineering , literature , anatomy , geology , astronomy , botany , writing , history , and cartography.
He made substantial discoveries in anatomy , civil engineering , geology , optics , and hydrodynamics , but he did not publish his findings and they had no direct influence on later science.