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paperstainedink's review
4.0
Holy gods. Read this. READ IT. Da Vinci was a bloody genius.
Given that Leonardo never had much of a formal education, and that his intelligence was borne out of observation and imagination, what this book contains is truly astonishing. It blurs what modernity would consider the lines between the arts and the sciences, but I don't think that matters. What really matters is the hard evidence that a self-taught scientist figured out things that were taught to me in my science lessons at school. I'll give you an example. The way light hits and enters the eye. Da Vinci drew a diagram of it and it is so accurate that I found myself staring. Six hundred years later and modern science is using just what Da Vinci figured out. Of course, science has existed for millennia; I'm not suggesting Da Vinci was the father of modern science. But it is wonderful, reading this and going 'I learnt that in school! And he did it without modern technology or formal education!'
His musings on art are just as profound. What a truly remarkable man, and one who was far, far ahead of his time. Just imagine what he could be doing if he were alive today.
Please read this. I really urge you to. It is a fascinating read, and well worth your time.
Given that Leonardo never had much of a formal education, and that his intelligence was borne out of observation and imagination, what this book contains is truly astonishing. It blurs what modernity would consider the lines between the arts and the sciences, but I don't think that matters. What really matters is the hard evidence that a self-taught scientist figured out things that were taught to me in my science lessons at school. I'll give you an example. The way light hits and enters the eye. Da Vinci drew a diagram of it and it is so accurate that I found myself staring. Six hundred years later and modern science is using just what Da Vinci figured out. Of course, science has existed for millennia; I'm not suggesting Da Vinci was the father of modern science. But it is wonderful, reading this and going 'I learnt that in school! And he did it without modern technology or formal education!'
His musings on art are just as profound. What a truly remarkable man, and one who was far, far ahead of his time. Just imagine what he could be doing if he were alive today.
Please read this. I really urge you to. It is a fascinating read, and well worth your time.
laura_trap's review against another edition
3.0
so it took me impossibly long to read this book, and partly I found the translation to be mediocre. As much as I loved reading his thoughts, ideas, and prose, I found the use of more modern language to be distracting. I also wished more of his drawings and sketches to be interspersed with his notes. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I found it difficult to concentrate on it for long.
tricky's review against another edition
4.0
I read the notebooks some time ago and they certainly stuck with me. I love how you have an insight into this amazing mind, that here on paper you can almost feel that you are with the great man himself. There is a great deal to take in and you find yourself pondering some of his thoughts and marvelling in his insights.
A really good read.
A really good read.
rick_sam's review against another edition
4.0
A Masterpiece to learn and understand Renaissance Man. Although, I'm not a painter -- I got a glimpse of Leonardo's life through his journal entries.
"A Painter is not admirable if he is not universal." This seems to strike chords with thinkers of School of Salamanca, who viewed Knowledge holistically and didn't take positivist approach of segmenting branches of Knowledge.
--Deus Vult
Gottfried
"A Painter is not admirable if he is not universal." This seems to strike chords with thinkers of School of Salamanca, who viewed Knowledge holistically and didn't take positivist approach of segmenting branches of Knowledge.
--Deus Vult
Gottfried
remocpi's review against another edition
5.0
Resumen de todos los libros y anotaciones del polifacético genio renacentista, que trata un montón de temas: pintura, escultura, arquitectura, urbanismo, fábulas, máximas, física, anatomía... Sorprende (leer) la claridad de ideas que tenía este señor allá por el s. XV. Es increíble. Muchos de los temas están recortados en exceso, pero es el precio que hay que pagar por una edición barata.
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