Leonardo da Vinci designed an anemoscope to record changes in wind direction.
An anemoscope is a device for observing or recording the direction of moving air. Leonardo’s design used a moving indicator connected to a mechanism that could show how the wind shifted. This complemented his work on anemometers, which were concerned chiefly with wind speed.
The distinction matters because wind direction and wind velocity are separate measurements. A wind vane gives a direct directional reading, while an anemoscope can be designed to track or register changes over time.
Leonardo’s interest in such instruments came from his studies of flight, weather, and fluid motion. His notebooks repeatedly transform observations of nature into diagrams of mechanisms that could measure, display, or reproduce those effects.