Book
Leonardo da Vinci / Walter Isaacson.
"He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? The author of the acclaimed bestsellers Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography. Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781501139154 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: xii, 599 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 25 cm
- Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2017.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. Artists > Italy > Biography. Gifted persons > Italy > Biography. Scientists > Italy > Biography. |
| Genre: | Biographies. |
- Baker & Taylor
The best-selling author ofBenjamin Franklin draws on da Vinci's remarkable notebooks as well as new discoveries about his life and work in a narrative portrait that connects the master's art to his science, demonstrating how da Vinci's genius was based on the skills and qualities of everyday people, from curiosity and observation to imagination and fantasy. - Baker & Taylor
"He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? The author of the acclaimed bestsellers Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography. Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius"-- - Baker & Taylor
Draws on da Vinci's notebooks as well as new discoveries about his life and work in a narrative portrait that connects the master's art to his science, demonstrating how da Vinci's genius was based on ordinary qualities, including curiosity and imagination. - Simon and Schuster
Soon to be a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS!
The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is âa study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve itâ¦Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and lifeâ (The New Yorker).
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinciâs astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson âdeftly reveals an intimate Leonardoâ (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardoâs genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.
He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him historyâs most creative genius.
In the âluminousâ (Daily Beast) Leonardo da Vinci, Isaacson describes how Leonardoâs delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and, like talented rebels in any era, to think different. Here, da Vinci âcomes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacsonâs ambitious new biographyâ¦a vigorous, insightful portraitâ (The Washington Post).
