(Kindle Ed. pp. 30-31)Today, Leonardo’s notebooks have found their way into some of the world’s most prestigious collections. Some are housed in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle in England, the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The Codex Leicester and a collection of Leonardo’s scientific writings are owned privately by Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. None of Leonardo’s writings were published during his lifetime, and many seemed to be prepped for just that.(Kindle Ed. p. 3)Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci...That's why he's been known as "da Vinci (of/ from Vinci)!" I had never thought about it until I read this book.- You will find the book definitely intriguing and super informative despite its short length for a fast reading.- Author's thoughtfulness for history beginners are found here and there, too.- The book starts with a fine opening and ends with a great closing.It's a five-star opening line:(Kindle Ed. p. 4)...The Black Death, which had ravaged Europe earlier in the fourteenth century, set the stage for the transition from the Middle Ages to a time of rebirth...(Kindle Ed. p. 2)By the time of his death, Leonardo had seemed to capture the very heart of Europe. Everyone knew who he was—and this in an age when communication was slim to none. Quite an accomplishment for someone born a bastard in a remote Italian village no one had heard of. In time, he would become the favored one of popes, princes, and kings.He was a lucky man that he was born like a century after the Black Death had ended, which was the perfect timing for the people of a new idea called "Humanism" without being labeled as heretic or anything.The book starts with fairly a good enough entr'/intr'o-duct'ion. I've read the 2016-edition, and it just needs a little bit of final touch (editing) to make the lines sound more complete as something is still missing among the lines.The best about reading this book is that it makes you think, which is the very first purpose of reading.(Kindle Ed. pp. 34-35)Perhaps because he knew so much about proportion and perspective, these interests naturally gave way to other more practical areas like engineering and inventing. He knew all there was to know about mechanical principles. He understood perfectly the ideas behind pulleys, cranks, gears, cantilevering, leverage, rack and pinion gears, lubrication systems, and bearings. To go along with all of these principles, he understood all there was to know about momentum, centripetal force, and friction. For all that, his notebooks remained unpublished during his lifetime and for many years after.(Kindle Ed. p. 41)Leonardo da Vinci, for all he came to know and understand in the world, was not formally educated. Being an illegitimate son, his father felt there was no need to educate him well early on. So he was mostly home schooled while living in his grandfather’s house. Traditional subjects like Latin and Greek remained a mystery to him until he taught himself these things later in life.(Kindle Ed. pp. 8-9)...Leonardo was soon enrolled in school in Florence. Leonardo showed no interest in his classes. His teachers would fail him in a subject; often he would learn what he could, then abruptly drop the class himself. One of the things Leonardo loved to do was mirror-writing. Because he was left-handed, he would write from right to left on a page, with each letter written in reverse. He used this method throughout his life. When not in school or wondering about his classwork, Leonardo loved Florence. He often walked far from home, exploring gardens, fountains, and all the beauties of the city. Every little thing he found, from bird eggs to insects dried on pins, he kept from his father’s sight, lest the man disapprove even more...One of the things Leonardo saw in abundance in Florence were books—which was very different than his home in Vinci. There were books everywhere on every subject. Not only did Leonardo devour books about the ancients such as Plato and Aristotle, but there were books and maps about the world and everything in it.A typical outcast: He really was with different angles than others seeing the world, which must have been the very base for someone who would make a difference for the world.(Kindle Ed. pp. 9-12)Piero may not have been the most attentive father, but he did recognize how his son took an avid interest in artwork. Even though paper was hard to come by and expensive, Piero made sure Leonardo had as much paper as he needed. He also believed if the boy didn’t become a notary, perhaps he would make it as an artist—little did he know. Wasn’t it wonderful that Piero’s employer was Cosimo de’ Medici? Here was one of the wealthiest men in all of Europe, someone who loved the arts, and was a favorite in the worlds of education, art, and architecture. All over Florence, stunning pieces of art and sculpture had been created at Cosimo’s behest...Once Piero’s father died, he now turned his full attention to his son Leonardo. Piero discovered some of Leonardo’s drawings in his room and took them to his good friend Verrocchio. He immediately agreed that Leonardo was talented and wanted to have him study as an apprentice. Leonardo was ecstatic; it was a dream come true...When Leonardo arrived at Verrocchio’s workshop, he was joined by others who were already working under the master. One of these men was Pietro Perugino, who painted the fresco known as The Delivery of the Keys in Rome’s Sistine Chapel. The other was Sandro Botticelli, who painted The Birth of Venus 20 years later...Verrocchio was one of the best-known artists in all of Florence. His name, Verrocchio, meaning “true eye,” certainly proved true when it came to Leonardo. Because of who he was, Verrocchio received many commissions for work all throughout Florence. One of Verrocchio’s paintings is Tobias and the Angel. The archangel Raphael is actually a likeness of Leonardo. Leonardo even contributed to the painting with a fish held by Tobias and a fluffy dog at the angel’s feet...In 1472, when Leonardo was 20 years old, his apprenticeship was over. He registered in the Guild of Painters in Florence. Now he too was a master painter. He could, at last, leave his unpaid days of being an apprentice behind him and accept any work that was commissioned to him. Leonardo’s father set him up in his own workshop, but for the time being, the young artist continued working with Verrocchio...Another reason why I call Leonardo da Vinci a lucky man: This is the critical condition to real'ize that difference. Most of the outcasts disappear quietly or have to find their patrons themselves (Sometimes they become their own patrons with their own successful rise in their second career).(Kindle Ed. p. 33)Leonardo, in his anatomical studies, found it hard to believe in the theory of the four humors. Because of his dissections, Leonardo was able to ascertain that where these humors were said to be located were not correct. He rightly stated that the humors were not located in the heart or the liver and that the heart was the center of the circulatory system. Leonardo da Vinci was the first scientist to define both cirrhosis of the liver and atherosclerosis...One thing's certain: He would never have found that all out if he had studied them at school.(Kindle Ed. pp. 27-32)To make his paintings and portraits come more fully alive, Leonardo began keeping notes on all manner of anatomy and scientific studies. Renaissance humanism did not recognize any differences between sciences and the arts; they were all one and the same. No one would have looked at Leonardo’s engineering and science sketches and thought they were unnecessary or adding little value to their discoveries. Everything that is found in Leonardo’s notebooks can be found in his paintings, too. When it came to seriously studying the human body, Leonardo began looking into anatomy. He dissected human and animal bodies during the 1480s. There are drawings he made of the human heart, vascular system, sex organs, bones and muscular compositions, and a fetus in utero, which are some of the first drawings on human record. Over the years, Leonardo kept notes and drawings that amounted to over 13,000 pages. Everything he observed he would write about; his daily life was filled with observations about the natural world...Because Leonardo saw no divide between science and art, he viewed them with the same importance. He believed that by studying science, this would make him a better artist...True to his word, da Vinci also studied botany, zoology, geology, physics, hydraulics, and aeronautics, the latter being remarkable as this was an age where there were no airplanes or running engines...Leonardo’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man perfectly parallels his understanding of proportion, an artistic measurement that he had been studying since he was a student of Verrocchio’s. This famous image demonstrates how art and mathematics were perfectly blended during the years of the Renaissance. This picture is also a compilation of how man relates to nature, something which wouldn’t impact the world for centuries. Leonardo’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man shows how he observed the ancient texts of Classical Architecture and his observations of human bodies. When drawing the circle and the square, he correctly deduces that the square cannot have the same center as the circle, so the navel is placed lower than it should be. Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man is used to show the symmetry of not only the human body but of the universe as a whole. The arm and leg positions create sixteen different poses. The pose of the figure with his arms out and his legs together seems to be drawn in the square, while the “spread-eagle” position is seen as drawn in the circle. All of the notes on the page are in mirror-image...He deeply studied the mechanical functions of skeletons and how the muscles impact on their systems. This was an early precursor to modern biomechanics...In his dealings with science, Leonardo came at it from a strictly theoretical viewpoint; his observations were very detail-oriented but did not include public experiments, only small ones he attempted himself...most of his scientific findings were ignored by his contemporaries.The Renaissance artists? Yes, I give them credit for their contributions to the world. Not that all art forms I appreciate though. Honestly, some they call arts are really useless except to those who create them.The book is a good quality with "not that many" errors:(Kindle Ed. p. 3)...It was common for many prominent families in early Renaissance Italy to bring in women from Eastern Europe of the Middle East...Correction: ...to bring in women from Eastern Europe "or" the Middle East...(Kindle Ed. p. 18)...In his hand, Jerome holds a rock which he has been beating his chest as penance...Correction: ...Jerome holds a rock "with which" he has been beating his chest as penance...(Kindle Ed. pp. 19-20)...In The Virgin of the Rocks, the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus are depicted along with the infant John the Baptist. The setting is amongst the rocks, hence the name of the painting. John the Baptist is seated next to an angel who is there to protect them, and this is where his family met the Holy Family on their way to Egypt. The infant John recognizes the Christ Child as he points towards him. This painting demonstrates how beautiful the figures are as they all, including the Virgin, kneel before Jesus...This is not a typo, but a mis-description. Something's not correct with the author's description about the two infants' positions.Look at his two paintings below: The first one is displayed at Musée de Louvre, and the second at the National Gallery, London.(Kindle Ed. p. 37)...He had available to him a limited range of materials with which to work...What? Unscramble the line lol"He had to work with a limited range of materials available to him."Despite some errors listed here, the book describes well the master pieces of Leonardo da Vinci in "artistic" point of view along with both the "historical and personal" backgrounds of each work.Lastly, the book closes with a five-star con-clos'/ -clus'ion:(Kindle Ed. pp. 43-44)Much of his success came from a culture which would rise out of the ashes of the Great Plague. Europe had been devastated by disease and death to the tune of millions of people succumbing to a plague the likes of which had never been seen before. After the plague had ravaged Europe, it was as if a great cloud was lifted, and new ways of not only doing things but of thinking were making their way across the civilized world. The spirit of the day made its way across Italy as well, where the makings of the great intellectual and scientific discoveries initially found only in monasteries and universities were unleashed into a culture willing to soak it up. Where once artists and sculptors were restricted by what was required of them in Medieval art, now they found themselves more willing to experiment and to delve ever deeper into what made up the human psyche. There truly was a new world emerging, and it was being created by those most willing to challenge, to push the limits, to think beyond their world in the present moment.(Kindle Ed. p. 45)Once long ago, Leonardo is credited with saying, “You have no dominion greater or lesser than that over yourself.” No words could be truer. He lived this motto to the fullest, ever learning, ever searching, never letting a moment of his life go by to waste. From such humble beginnings, where in his time his life would have been given no credence to be anything more than an illegitimate son, Leonardo da Vinci went on to astound them all. And he astounds us still, far away into the twenty-first century.