Leonardo

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 predate and prefigure the work of later scientists, including Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. Had they not been lost for so long, the notes might have altered the course and pace of scientific discovery. Far more than priceless artifacts and historical curios (Bill Gates bought one notebook, the so-called Hammer Codex, for $30 million in 1994), Leonardo's notebooks illuminate a mind capable of both rigorous procedure and soaring flights of imaginative thought.Weaving together the elements of da Vinci's life and his times-his unhappy childhood, his homosexuality, his relationship with everyone from Machiavelli to Cesare Borgia to Michelangelo-White has produced an illuminating portrait of the first genius in modern science.