Product Description

This book is both a revelatory biography and an accessible study of Leonardo's life and multi-faceted work as a scientist and engineer. It covers all aspects of the man's life but is also a re-interpretation of the voluminous evidence to paint an original picture of Leonardo da Vinci not only as the archetypal polymath, but as the first true scientist. Topics include: * A detailed investigation of how Leonardo's manuscripts and notebooks were lost to the world and kept secret during his own lifetime and how this altered the progress of science. * A thorough analysis of his work as a scientist and how he predated many of the great figures of the 16th and 17th centuries, including Galileo, Kepler, William Harvey, Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton. * Leonardo's legacy -- what did Leonardo leave in his notebooks and how may they be viewed in the light of modern scientific understanding? What did he achieve in science?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83109 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 370 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Though the Mona Lisa may be Leonardo da Vinci's most famous piece of work, some of his other projects have had a far greater impact on the way we live today. It's the scientific inventions that Michael White, who has also written biographies of Darwin, Einstein and Newton, wants to make sure that we don't forget. Leonardo, after all, invented the telescope, flying machine, tank and diving suit among other things.

The word scientist wasn't coined until the 19th century but White makes the assertion that Leonardo was not just a gatherer of random conjectures but the world's first scientist. He asserts that the methods used by Leonardo were as important as the discoveries. In describing an experiment for observing the refraction of light, he concluded: "And form your rule from that." This mirrors the scientific method: "Have your idea, do your experiment, create a hypothesis, develop a rule, repeat the experiment to verify; if not confirmed, then adjust experiment and hypothesis."

Leonardo's scientific ideas take priority in this fascinating book but his life as an artist is also discussed. As White points out, even his art was infused with his understanding of science. "His last and greatest paintings were paeans to his paired skills as an artist and a scientist, celebrations of his twinned talents." --Alex Gray

Review
'White's level-headed assessments of the scientific content of Leonardo's surviving works are characteristically clear and easy to follow . . . [White] sifts fact from opinion in the works of his predecessors, and conveys his own enthusiasm and admiration for his subject' LISA JARDINE in the LITERARY REVIEW 'A lively and often informative book' MIRANDA SEYMOUR in the SUNDAY TIMES

SUNDAY TIMES
'A lively and often informative book' MIRANDA SEYMOUR in the

Customer Reviews

Highly engaging portrait of the ultimate Renaissance Man
I was never particularly interested in Leonardo da Vinci before reading this book. But within a few pages of starting it I was completely hooked. Michael White has the rare skill of making history come alive, and his portrayal of Leonardo and the major figures of the time really is engrossing. I find some of the other Amazon reviews alarmingly misleading. If you're an academic researcher looking to split hairs, you will of course succeed - but the ordinary reader will find this book provides a vivid and captivating story not only of Leonardo, but of the times in which he lived.

Da Vinci was a bit like the Mona Lisa.
It is appropriate that Leonardo da Vinci painted the woman with the mysterious smile, the Mona Lisa, perhaps the most famous painting of all time. For just as there are many questions surrounding the subject matter, and why she is smiling (or is she), and whether her eyes follow you around the room, there are also many unknowns surrounding the artist. He is an enigma himself, so THAT is why he painted the Mona Lisa.

Michael White gives a broad picture of the artist, and how he broke new ground, both within art, and also is his investigations. Da Vinci also managed to bridge science and art. He was able to see science from the perspective of an artist, to visualise art with the mindset of a scientist, and capture architecture from the viewpoint of the artist-scientist.

White postulates that da Vinci was the first scientist. However, we have to remember that the 21st century of a 'scientist' is very different to that in 15th century Florence, or Milan. There was still the scope for individuals to engage in an all-embracing approach, so the body of knowledge was sufficiently small as to be able to be grasped. Furthermore, this was so for about 250 years after da Vinci's time.

Da Vinci was a very talented man, and it is tempting to question what he might have achieved if he had been more focussed. He tended to flit from one thing to another, leaving many incomplete projects, and ever two or three books-in-the-writing, not finished, or indeed, hardly started. White does bring out the breadth of the tasks that the Italian tackled, correctly giving emphasis to some achievements not generally known.

However, whereever you look, there is the enigma that is da Vinci. He is a peculiar mix of old and new, showing in his studies of eyes that he was far ahead of his time. Da Vinci goes some of the way towards the notion of blood circulating, but not quite making the impossible leap that William Harvey was to make over 200 years later. What White does is show that da Vinci was one of the first to systematically investigate, to move from the cognitive to the experimental scientist.

Da Vinci left a huge collection of notes, drawings and "scribblings", and these were firstly lost for over 200 years, and then dissipated into private collections and archives. It is always possible to show tenuous links with hindsight. Maybe there is some over eagerness on White's part, but da Vinci was a marvellous man. Geology, rain, water and clouds, anatomy, fortifications and machinery of war, canals, and the list goes on. He was forward looking, and many have claimed that da Vinci invented helicopters, and other diverse items of machinery. Yet he was steeped in the Aristotelian view of the four elements; earth, air, fire and water. He also did not spend large amounts of time investigating cosmology, as many of his age did.

Da Vinci had feet of clay, yet a very freethinking mind. He used science to aid him, to help him as an artist. His only published work, a book on art gives views ahead of his time, on distance, perspective, light and shade. That in itself would have made the man worthy of praise. He also continued to study, to both aid his art, and for scientific discovery. The fact that he was a bridge between the old and the new is another facet of the enigma that is Leonardo.

Worst read in quite some time
This book is definitely in the running for the "Worst Book Ever" nomination. It neither stands up as biography nor as good science writing. The author frequently reverts to supposition and conjecture where there is little or non-existent documentary evidence. Speculation and over-active imagination seemed to have played a major role in compiling the material for this book, rather than documented and reported fact or use of reliable sources. Extensive use of a thesaurus doesn't compensate for what a good editor should have chopped down to a short essay, preferrably for circulation only amongst Mr.Whites closest acquaintances.
An otherwise nice day at the beach ruined!!!