On Motion and the Aging Eye's Distant Sight
Does a spinning wheel weigh differently on its pole; why the old see better far off
Under the heading 'De moto', Leonardo poses whether the revolving motion of a wheel about its pole makes the wheel heavier or lighter upon it, and asks the same of a wheel turning on a flat plane. A second note explains why aging men see better at a distance: one and the same object sends a smaller impression into the eye when it is remote than when it is near. The page is otherwise plain mirror-script prose without diagrams.
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Does a spinning wheel change its weight on the pole?
Leonardo asks whether the revolving motion of a wheel about its pole makes the wheel more or less heavy upon that pole, and raises the same question for a wheel that turns upon a flat plane. The problem is posed without a resolution here.
Why aged men see better at a distance
In men who are growing old, sight is better far off than close at hand, because one and the same thing sends a smaller impression into the eye when remote than when near. Leonardo explains the phenomenon by the size of the image cast upon the eye.