The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance

by Fritjof Capra

Book Overview

Enhanced with 50 sepia-toned illustrations and drawing on an examination of over 6,000 pages of Leonardo Da Vincis surviving notebooks, The Science of Leonardo explains that Da Vinci approached... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385513909
• ISBN13: 9780385513906
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Great Read

This book is simply excellent and should be read by anyone with an interest in personal or organizational innovation.

good biography of da vinci's life and thought

I heard of this book during an interview of the author on NPR. The interview was fascinating and motivated me to get the book. The book is wonderful for its balance and grace. It is a concise telling of da Vinci's life and his thinking gleaned from his manuscripts and from contemporary writers. It is interesting to discover that little is known about da Vinci's personal or inner life. However, we discover that da Vinci was truly one of the first scientists in the modern sense, predating Galileo. His gifts for observation, illustration, and painting combined with his energy and enthusiasm for experimentation led him to discoveries and conclusions that would not be widely recognized for centuries. It was a good inspiring read! I'm looking forward to reading Capra's book on systemic thinking.

Multifarious Man

Fritjof Capra provides fascinating insight into Leonardo da Vinci, his life, and his many accomplishments. No special knowledge is assumed: all terms, such as sfumato and chiaroscuro, are well defined. The Greek and Latin schools of thought are introduced, and how Leonardo variously accepted, rejected, or improved upon this body of knowledge. Particular attention is paid to Leonardo's methods, a man so interested in the process and underlying principals as to be a renowned sculptor in his time without a sculpture, one who left a trail of magnificent (yet variously incomplete) artwork. Leonardo asked not just "how", but also "why", and tested these questions with detailed experiments in many fields: optics, anatomy, and fluid dynamics, to name a few. The text does repeat itself, though like a arabesque rope, repeats back on the core strengths of Leonardo, and shows in turn how these strengths allowed Leonardo to advance the fields of art, science, and engineering. Highly recommended.

absolutely brilliant. capra reveals the subtleties of leonardos genius.

leonardo davinci is was and ever shall be the greatest genius of all time. i agree with capra that had leonardo published his notes science and humanity would be at least 100, to 150 years ahead of its time.i also agree with capra that many of his notes and drawings will be rediscovered in some library covered with dust shedding even more light on this extraordinary individual. i just hope these discoveries of his lost notebooks are made soon, because i cant even imagine what to expect.many gaps remain to be filled and many more surprises lie ahead. the book is open on leonardo, and as capra says leonardo is more relevent today than ever. He truly was an abberration. Ijust cant wait.