The weather instrument Leonardo da Vinci is credited with designing to show wind direction and strength is an anemometer.
Leonardo’s anemometer concept used a light, movable indicator that responded to airflow. The design was intended to help observers determine the direction of the wind and gain an indication of its force. This information would have been useful for studying flight, weather, and the operation of wind-driven machines.
An anemometer is not the same as a wind vane. A wind vane primarily indicates direction, while an anemometer measures or estimates wind speed. Some historical instruments combined directional and speed-related features, which can make the terminology appear less precise in summaries of Leonardo’s notebooks.
Leonardo’s design was an early mechanical approach to a problem that later instruments solved with cups, wheels, pressure systems, and electronic sensors. His interest in air movement also appears throughout his studies of birds and flying machines.