Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson **** (of 4)

Leonardo painted the two most famous paintings in the world: The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, but I think what I have always found so fascinating about Leonardo is his breadth of genius.

Leonardo designed ideal cities, studied optics, advanced the world of anatomy (by dissecting scores of cadavers, human and animal), accurately explained why the moon shines and why you can see portions of the moon that are not lit beyond its crescent, drew up plans to divert rivers, created entertaining court spectacles with flying machines and realistic dragons, planned military devices such as armored tanks, chariots with scythe-bearing wheels, and massive cross-bows, figured out why the sky is blue, how beams of light refract as they enter the eye and how to use that information to create paintings that would look real when viewed from any angle. He engaged in architecture, geometry, urban planning, civil engineering, sculpture, geology, and in many ways presaged the invention of science at a time when the Middle Ages had set the search for truth, science, and exploration in the dark for 1,000 years. Many of Leonardo's inventions, discoveries, and observations took hundreds of years to verify, validate, or manufacture. He was that far ahead of his peers in nearly every discipline.

Even if you aren't going to read the book, check out this pdf of images from the book.

Reading Isaacson's biography of Leonardo is a 650-page commitment, but Isaacson succeeds in portraying Leonardo's super-human brilliance and his mortal foibles. Leonardo had difficulty finishing projects. He didn't like to publish nearly as much as he liked to begin new explorations. He suffered from random bouts of depression. He liked to wear bright clothing, had good friends, told fine stories, was gay, but matter-of-fact about it, and liked teaching.

I would have enjoyed meeting Leonardo and feel like I have done so.