Da Vinci's Demons 2.8: The Talking Head

Another excellent Da Vinci's Demons last night - 2.8 - with not one but two scientific wonders.

One was a parachute, sketched but not actually constructed by the real Da Vinci.   But when it was eventually made and tested hundreds of years later - in the year 2000, by Adrian Nichols - it worked! And, as this Da Vinci page notes, "Despite skepticism from experts, da Vinci’s design worked as intended and Nichols even noted that it had a smoother ride than the modern parachute."  The man was a transcendent genius no doubt, in our reality as well in this fine television series, where Da Vinci's parachutes enable him and his party to escape their Inca-like captors via a jump off a sheer, very high cliff, aka the vault of heaven.

The second marvelous invention which plays a pivotal role in this episode was a talking head, of Da Vinci's mother.  Da Vinci neither in reality or in Da Vinci's Demons sketched or invented this device, but, as I point out in my Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution (1997), the phonograph in our reality was a mechanical invention (Edison was its inventor, in 1877), meaning it did not need electricity.  Therefore, it indeed could have been invented at any time in history, and there is even some speculation that potters in the ancient world may have captured sound waves as imprints on their pottery, analogous to the grooves on vinyl records.  (My novel, The Silk Code, explores this possibility.)

Significantly not discovered in this episode was the Book of Leaves, but Da Vinci is of course not discouraged but inspired to search further for it.   Da Vinci and company are thus left on the shore, waiting for Amerigo Vespucci to arrive, which he does.   This  could have been a good final episode of this season, but there are important matters coming to the boil back in Europe.

The evil Pope treats the Turkish envoy poorly (and did I hear the Pope call one of his cardinals "Rodrigo," as in Rodrigo Borgia?), Lorenzo has increased his strength, and Lucrezia is still in Istanbul. Lots of clashes to be resolved in the next two episodes - and with Da Vinci and Giralamo now allied, their return to Europe and their impact on these clashes should be fun to see indeed.

See also Da Vinci's Demon's 2.1: Science Fiction v Fantasy ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.2: Renaissance Radio ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.3: Submarine ... Da Vinci's Demon's 2.4: Copernican Revelation ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.5: Corn ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.6: Meets Charles Dickens ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.7: Four Stories

And see also Da Vinci's Demons:  History, Science, and Science Fiction ... Da Vinci's Demons 1.7: Leonardo Under Water with a Twist ... Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 Finale: History, Science Fiction, Time Travel 



a phonograph in ancient India in The Silk Code

Da Vinci's Demons 2.5: Corn

Well, Da Vinci's Demons 2.5 last night moved from the celestial mathematics of last week's episode to about as mundane as you can get for science as the solution to Da Vinci's life-and-death problems.  On the verge of being killed by his Maya-like captors in the New World, his life dependent upon his choice of the right instrument, Da Vinci's satisfies his captors with his selection of tools to sow corn.   Unknown in Europe at this time, corn would have been the last thing that any European in the New World would have thought of at this time - anyone, that is, other than Da Vinci, who took note of the corn fields as he was escorted to the ceremonial event.

It's not quite clear just where this happened, however.  The map we keep seeing at the beginning of the show is of South America, and Mayans didn't extend quite that far south, as far as we know.   But that sort of blurring of history and geography is ok in a narrative like this.

And, indeed, the story takes another nice jump away from the mystical into the plausible, much more satisfying as far as I am concerned.  The high priestess knows Da Vinci's name and face.  And she can speak his language.   How can this be?  The answer is that Da Vinci's mother sailed across the Atlantic and educated the priestess.  Nice touch.

In real history, there likely were numerous voyages across the Atlantic prior to Columbus.  Certainly the Vikings did it - their presence in North America around 1000 AD has been confirmed by carbon dating of artifacts.   (I'm hoping Vikings on the History Channel someday get around to this.)   And the Phoenicians had the sailing know-how to get across the Atlantic, too.   So it would not be shocking to learn that a few ships from Italy made the voyage before Columbus, and one included Da Vinci's mother.

Another nice touch was including Amerigo Vespucci on the Da Vinci ship.   In reality, he arrived in the New World just a few years after Columbus, had something to do with a Medici, and as we know had the whole New World named after him - the Americas.

Da Vinci's Demons continues to shape up as good alternate or secret history.

See also Da Vinci's Demon's 2.1: Science Fiction v Fantasy ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.2: Renaissance Radio ... Da Vinci's Demons 2.3: Submarine ... Da Vinci's Demon's 2.4: Copernican Revelation

And see also Da Vinci's Demons:  History, Science, and Science Fiction ... Da Vinci's Demons 1.7: Leonardo Under Water with a Twist ... Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 Finale: History, Science Fiction, Time Travel 

 
an ancient voyage to the New World in The Plot to Save Socrates

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