Leonardo : the first scientist / Michael White

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: Foreword xi -- Introduction: The Total Man 1 --1 Sins of the Father 10 -- 2 Leonardo's Intellectual Inheritance 30 -- 3 A New Beginning 55 -- 4 Shattered Dreams, New Awakenings 79 -- 5 Recognition 100 -- 6 Triumph and Turmoil 129 -- 7 The Notebooks I (1484-1500) 158 -- 8 The Peripatetic Sage 198 -- 9 The Arms of the King 236 -- 10 The Notebooks II (1500-1519) 263 -- 11 The Science of Art 309 -- 12 Planet Leonardo 328 --Appendix I 336 -- Appendix II 339 -- Picture Credits 342 -- Notes 343 -- Index 358.

No one more completely embodies the notion of the Renaissance Man than Leonardo da Vinci. His lifetime (1452-1519) frames the heart and soul of the Italian Renaissance, one of the most remarkable periods in history. In its sweep, Leonardo's genius touched on nearly every aspect of human endeavor. Yet as Michael White argues in this fascinating and forceful new biography, da Vinci, mythic though his stature, has never been fully appreciated as one of the most remarkable scientific minds not merely of his age but of any age. Leonardo: The First Scientist makes clear that this imbalance is due in part to an accident of history, and in part to Leonardo himself. During his lifetime Da Vinci patiently assembled a vast collection of notebooks, consisting of over 13,000 manuscript pages and containing some 1,500 exquisite anatomical drawings, in which he tirelessly detailed his observations and experiments. Suspicious of others and fearful that his ideas might be stolen, he kept his research hidden even from those closest to him. After his death, the notebooks were dispersed to private collections and libraries throughout Europe. In essence, they disappeared for over two centuries. Those notebooks that eventually resurfaced contain Leonardo's now-legendary reflections and drawings concerning flight, optics, anatomy, astronomy and weaponry-a staggering, almost unthinkable range of subjects and interests. Indeed, as White proves, da Vinci's fifteenth-century discoveries