Leonardo da Vinci (original 2017; edition 2017)

by Walter Isaacson (Author)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
3,150	76	4,316	(4.18)	19
"He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? The author of the acclaimed bestsellers Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography. Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius"--… (more)

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Member:	Padre6
Title:	Leonardo da Vinci
Authors:	Walter Isaacson (Author)
Info:	Simon & Schuster (2017), Edition: First Edition, 624 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (2017)

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A thorough biography which painstakingly tries to explain why Leonardo used mirror writing, and finished only a small percentage of his commissions. His perfectionism, his use of techniques to achieve three dimensional effects in his paintings with sfumato and exacting perspective are, at times, fascinating, and others, a little redundant. I was happen to learn a lot more about Leonardo, but as happened with the Michelangelo biography, I was a bit deflated as Leonardo was demystified, much more normal and less superhuman. I remember thinking how brilliant mirror writing was after seeing the Leister Codex in person at the Phoenix art museum. Now I find that this writing style was mostly adapted by the artist as way to overcome his being left-handed and wanting to write from right to left instead of the normal left to right. (

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SamMelfi | Jun 1, 2024 |

A little longer than it needed to be, it seemed to me, with the author's conclusion re-emphasizing qualities that were already highlighted in the narrative, but still, a very interesting biography. Leonardo left many notes about his interests and activities which aided the biographer tremendously, in explaining Leonardo's goals, interests, preferences, observations, inventions, etc. Leonardo is described as a polymath, who though "unlettered," apparently his own words, was highly intelligent, imaginative, and knowledgeable in multiple disciplines--with much of his knowledge based on empirical experimentation and observation.
Great narrating, by the way, by Alfred Molina. (

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TraSea | Apr 29, 2024 |

I found the book frustrating: while the historical accounts are accurate, the paintinf reproductions lovely, and mastery of analisys of the visual style the author is not a good writer.

The text is focused on the visual documentation leonardo left and with little insight into his logical thinking. More a history of art book overall / with a puzzling self help conclusion and a long deviation following some attribution questions around some drawing.
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yates9 | Feb 28, 2024 |

Wonderful book! We should all be so curious and observant.

This was my first audio book. I thought it was well done. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it (being read to as opposed to reading it myself) so much. I think it could be easy to get hooked on this. As a bonus, I also own the hardcover so I was able to look at the pictures while reading. (

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ellink | Jan 22, 2024 |

Уолтер Айзексон специализируется на биографиях гениев. Сравнительно недавно большой успех имела его книга о Стиве Джобсе, а ранее — об Эйнштейне и Бенджамине Франклине. К концу карьеры Айзексон решил обратиться к имени, синонимичному понятию «гений», и, как выясняется, даже годы изучения неординарных личностей не смогли достаточно подготовить его к масштабам Леонардо. А как иначе отнестись к человеку, кто в списке своих талантов рисование ставит на последнее место, а в перечне дел на день ставит «разобраться с устройством языка дятла»? Дятел, кстати, действительно на редкость странен в этом отношении. Продолжая шокировать читателя неординарностью да Винчи, Айзексон тем не менее предлагает лайфхаки, основанные на жизни и мировоззрении флорентийца, пригодные и для не столь гениального человека.

Den85 | Jan 3, 2024 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Walter Isaacson	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Stokseth, Lene	Translator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Clercq, Anne-Sophie de	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gerlier, Jérémie	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Is contained in

Walter Isaacson: The Genius Biographies: Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist – Nonfiction – 2018)

Distinctions

Amazon's Best Books of the Month (October – 2017)

Amazon.com Best Books (Biographies and memoirs – 2017)

Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction – 2017)

Книга месяца в магазине "Москва" (октябрь – 2018)

Notable Lists

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection – 2017)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Original title

Leonardo da Vinci

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2017

People/Characters

Leonardo da Vinci

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Important places

Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

(Introduction) Around the time that he reached the unnerving milestone of turning thirty, Leonardo da Vinca wrote a letter to the ruler of Milan listing the reasons he should be given a job.

Leonardo da Vinci had the good luck to be born out of wedlock.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

McCullough, David

Original language

English US

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

"He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? The author of the acclaimed bestsellers Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography. Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius"--

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