Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (heat-sense), and 'gravity'.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452~1519), the great Italian artist, architect, and man of science, made the first scientific experiments In the field of aviation. He devoted many years of his life to understanding the mysteries of flight, and he left the world 160 pages of descriptions and sketches of flying machines.
Considered one of the greatest scientific minds of all time, mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton formulated theories about motion, gravity and calculus, among a range of other topics. The son of an illiterate farmer, Newton also was a temperamental loner and often secretive about his work. Find out more about this fascinating Englishman, from his long-term interest in alchemy to the job he held that involved sending people to the gallows to the cause of one of his most bitter rivalries.