Honest Book Review of LEONARDO DA VINCI by WALTER ISAACSON

The 1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is a study in creativity how to define it how to achieve itMost important it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life The New Yorker Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vincis astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work Walter Isaacson deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo San Francisco Chronicle in a narrative that connects his art to his science He shows how Leonardos 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 With a passion that sometimes became obsessive he pursued innovative studies of anatomy fossils birds the heart flying machines botany geology and weaponry He explored the math of optics showed how light rays strike the cornea and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man made him historys most creative genius In the luminous Daily Beast Leonardo da Vinci Isaacson describes how Leonardos delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity So too does his ease at being a bit of a misfit illegitimate gay vegetarian left handed easily distracted and at times heretical His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and like talented rebels in any era to think different Here da Vinci comes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacsons ambitious new biographya vigorous insightful portrait The Washington Post261