The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance | 
 enlarge | Author: Fritjof Capra
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $14.48
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 47322
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0385513909
Dewey Decimal Number: 509.2
EAN: 9780385513906
ASIN: 0385513909
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081121221340T
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
pLeonardo da Vinci#8217;s pioneering scientific work was virtually unknown during his lifetime. Now acclaimed scientist and bestselling author Fritjof Capra reveals that Leonardo was in many ways the unacknowledged #8220;father of modern science.#8221; Drawing on an examination of over 6,000 pages of Leonardo#8217;s surviving notebooks, Capra explains that Leonardo approached scientific knowledge with the eyes of an artist. Through his studies of living and nonliving forms, from architecture and human anatomy to the turbulence of water and the growth patterns of grasses, he pioneered the empirical, systematic approach to the observation of nature#8212;what is now known as the scientific method. brbrLeonardo's scientific explorations were extraordinarily wide-ranging. He studied the flight patterns of birds to create some of the first human flying machines. Using his understanding of weights and levers and trajectories and forces, he designed military weapons and defenses, and was in fact regarded as one of the foremost military engineers of his era. He studied optics, the nature of light, and the workings of the human heart and circulatory system. Because of his vast knowledge of hydraulics, he was hired to create designs for rebuilding the infrastructure of Milan and the plain of Lombardy, employing the very principles still used by city planners today. He was a mechanical genius, and yet his worldview was not mechanistic but organic and ecological. This is why, in Capra's view, Leonardo's science#8212;centuries ahead of his time in a host of fields#8212;is eminently relevant to our time.brbrEnhanced with fifty beautiful sepia-toned illustrations, iThe Science of Leonardo/i is a fresh and important portrait of a colossal figure in the world of science and the arts./p
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 The Science of Leonardo March 31, 2008
Margaret B. Edwards
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Amazon shipped this book in a timely manner. Customer service was great but I did have to call back and confirm. We give this book as gifts with a commemorative card inside the cover. Interesting book for young scientist.
A Great Read February 20, 2008
Publius Cornelius (Columbus, Ohio)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
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 January 29, 2008
Dan Arias (Santa Cruz, CA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I heard of this book during an interview of the author on NPR. The interview was fascinating and motivated me to get the book. br / br /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. br / br /It was a good inspiring read! I'm looking forward to reading Capra's book on systemic thinking.
Genius! A great book to ring in the New Year! January 2, 2008
Crystal Vaagen
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My neck hurts from all the time I spent reading this book, but it was completely worth it! Science and art go hand in hand, and this book demonstrates the genius of how Leonardo da Vinci put it all together. This is a great book. I can see the author's enthusiasm for both physics and art. It's an easy read, sometimes boring, but it illustrates how Leonardo da Vinci observed the mechanics of movement and combined it with other elements, i.e., the flow of water to the flow of hair. I'll read any book on this man, and even sometimes combine earlier readings, such as Plato, into how I understand where he was going artistically. I was illuminated by his portrayed intelligence throughout this book. He was solitary and focused on his craft. He kept meticulous record of his work, and because of that, we have books about him, such as this particular great read. He was completely ahead of his time. I like how he used a trap door to hide his art when guests would stop by, according to the book, Clever- No one really looks at him through the scientific eye, though, as they should. Most people think of him as just a fabulous artist. Although he created great (understatement) masterpieces, there is a scientific art underlying it all. Now that I'm growing artistically, I am starting to see the detail and how detail compiles. I am beginning to notice how the tetrahedral shape I studied way back in organic chemistry, for example, propagates into art. I don't have his genius, but admire it! This is an impressive read that everyone should step back into and enjoy.
The science of Leonardo December 22, 2007
Bill Shevlin
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Well written, showing how ahead of his time Leonardo was. A great perspective on a true genius.
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