Knowingo
The cover of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Walter Isaacson, 2017

Discover how a notary's illegitimate son became history's most complete fusion of art and science, filling notebooks with anatomy, flight, and math while painting the Mona Lisa and Last Supper.

Get the app Read on the web

23 parts, about 36 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Presents Leonardo as a self taught, curious human rather than a heaven sent genius, using his notebooks to show how his mind worked
  • Links his art to his science, from sfumato and the Mona Lisa's smile to dissections that found how the aortic valve closes
  • Explains why so many works stayed unfinished, as a perfectionist who preferred conception to execution and kept refining paintings for years

Who it is for

  • Art lovers who want the stories behind famous paintings
  • Readers curious how creativity and curiosity can be trained
  • People who start many projects and finish few

What the summary covers

  1. A Painter Who Pitched Himself as an Engineer1 min
  2. Childhood in Vinci1 min
  3. Apprentice in Florence2 min
  4. On His Own2 min
  5. Milan1 min
  6. The Notebooks1 min
  7. Court Entertainer1 min
  8. Personal Life1 min
  9. Vitruvian Man and the horse2 min
  10. The scientist2 min
  11. Anatomy and painting in Milan3 min
  12. The science of art1 min
  13. The Last Supper2 min
  14. Personal Turmoil1 min
  15. Florence Again2 min
  16. Serving Cesare Borgia1 min
  17. The Arno and the Lost Battle2 min
  18. Return to Milan1 min
  19. Anatomy, round two2 min
  20. The earth and its waters1 min
  21. Rome and the late paintings2 min
  22. France2 min
  23. What we can learn from Leonardo2 min

Recommended by

  • Bill GatesCofounder of Microsoft and chair of the Gates Foundation
    More than any other Leonardo book I’ve read, this one helps you see him as a complete human being and understand just how special he was.
  • Adam GrantOrganizational psychologist and Wharton professor
    A captivating narrative about art and science, curiosity and discipline.
  • Miranda SeymourEnglish literary critic, novelist and biographer
    A fresh and enthusiastic reading of the extraordinary da Vinci notebooks, written in a way that makes them both accessible and contemporary. Absorbing, enlightening and always engaging.
  • Fareed ZakariaJournalist and host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS
    In some ways this is Walter Isaacson's most ambitious book.

About the author

  • Walter IsaacsonAmerican journalist and biographer, professor at Tulane University
    • Born in New Orleans in 1952
    • Graduated from Harvard College and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar
    • Began his career at The Sunday Times in London and then the New Orleans Times Picayune
    • Joined Time in 1978 and became its 14th editor in 1996
    • Chairman and CEO of CNN from 2001, then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute from 2003
    • Earlier biographies cover Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs; Leonardo da Vinci appeared in 2017
    • Awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden in 2023
    • Professor of History at Tulane University

More books like this