Leonardo: The First ScientistCelebrated as a painter and engineer during his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci was the very embodiment of the Renaissance Man. But few guessed at the extent of his scientific investigations and experiments. In a vast collection of notebooks (over 5,000 pages), Leonardo meticulously detailed his research on optics, mechanics, astronomy, and anatomy. He kept his findings hidden for fear his ideas would be stolen. Had they been shared or published, they might well have changed the course of scientific discovery, for they prefigured the work of Newton, Galileo, and Kepler. Instead, after Leonardo's death, his papers were lost to the world for nearly 200 years; some were never recovered. Using newly available documents, Michael White illuminates Leonardo's groundbreaking achievements and weaves together the elements of his life and times-his unhappy childhood, his homosexuality, his relationship with everyone from Machiavelli to Cesare Borgia to Michelangelo. Leonardo: The First Scientist restores to this Renaissance genius the place he deserves in the pantheon of modern discovery. |
Contents
Sins of the Father | 10 |
Leonardos Intellectual Inheritance | 30 |
A New Beginning | 55 |
Shattered Dreams New Awakenings | 79 |
Recognition | 100 |
Triumph and Turmoil | 129 |
The Notebooks I 14841500 | 158 |
The Peripatetic Sage | 198 |
The Notebooks II 15001519 | 263 |
The Science of Art | 309 |
Planet Leonardo | 328 |
Appendix I | 336 |
Appendix II | 339 |
Picture Credits | 342 |
Notes | 343 |
358 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Alberti anatomy Antonio appears architect Aristotle artist Battle of Anghiari became believed bird Caterina century certainly Cesare Borgia Codex Codex Atlanticus Codex Trivulzianus commission court created death described designs detailed dissection drawings Duke early engineer experiment fact father Florence Florentine Francesco French friends genius Giorgio Vasari Greek historians human body Ibid ideas important intellectual interest investigations Isabella Isabella d'Este Italy later Leon Alberti Leonardo da Vinci light living Lorenzo Luca Pacioli Ludovico Ludovico Sforza machines manuscript master mathematics Medici Melzi Michelangelo Milan Milanese Mona Lisa muscles nature never Niccolò Machiavelli notebooks notes observations obsession optics Pacioli painter painting perhaps Petrarch Piero Pope produced realised reason Renaissance researches Rome Salai scientific scientist Sculptors seen Sforza Signoria sketch talent things thinkers Trattato della Pittura treatise Vasari Venice Verrocchio writing wrote young