The Science of Leonardo added January 22, 2011

Fritjof Capra's preface discusses the reasons for his compiling of this book on Leonardo da Vinci:

Leonardo da Vinci, perhaps the greatest master painter and genius of the Renaissance, has been the subject of hundreds of scholarly and popular books. His enormous oeuvre, said to include over 100,000 drawings and over 6,000 pages of notes, and the extreme diversity of his interests have attracted countless scholars from a wide range of academic and artistic disciplines.

However, there are surprisingly few books about Leonardo's science, even though he left voluminous notebooks full of detailed descriptions of his experiments, magnificent drawings, and long analyses of his findings. Moreover, most authors who have discussed Leonardo's scientific work have looked at it through Newtonian lenses, and I believe this has often prevented them from understanding its essential nature.

Leonardo intended to eventually present the results of his scientific research as a coherent, integrated body of knowledge. He never managed to do so, because throughout his life he always felt more compelled to expand, refine, and document his investigations than to organize them in a systematic way. Hence, in the centuries since his death, scholars studying his celebrated Notebooks have tended to see them as disorganized and chaotic. In Leonardo's mind, however, his science was not disorganized at all. It gave him a coherent, unifying picture of natural phenomena—but a picture that is radically different from that of Galileo, Descartes, and Newton.

Only now, five centuries later, as the limits of Newtonian science are becoming all too apparent and the mechanistic Cartesian worldview is giving way to a holistic and ecological view not unlike Leonardo's, can we begin to appreciate the full power of his science and its great relevance for our modern era.

My intent is to present a coherent account of the scientific method and achievements of the great genius of the Renaissance and evaluate them from the perspective of today's scientific thought. Studying Leonardo from this perspective will not only allow us to recognize his science as a solid body of knowledge. It will also show us why it cannot be understood without his art, nor his art without his science.

The synthesis of science and art is valuable and unusual. The author asserts that Leonardo da Vinci was a remarkable case of this attribute and he presents a compelling case for coming to the same conclusion.

The book is divided into two primary sections:

• Leonardo, the man
• Leonardo, the scientist

One of the most important aspects of the life of Leonardo da Vinci that is referenced in the book is his relative stability throughout life afforded by his royal employment. This freedom empowered him to make inquiry rather than to simply expend efforts for the realization of requirements for personal survival.

Creativity in artistic disciplines must frequently be curbed by necessary allocation of efforts into revenue generation for basic living needs. Creative disciplines can become mechanical and non-innovative where harsh economic realities force revenue considerations to trump artistic exploration. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the age of patronage and was therefore free to employ his life in exploring and creating. Great aptitudes were present with him, but these were also met with incredible opportunities.

The biographical sketch of da Vinci's life demonstrates that his was indeed a well-employed life (at least in the sense of accomplishing much). Precocity could hardly find a more suitable representative. Diligent application marked his life; many have talent, but few have the discipline to develop it.

The discussion of Leonardo da Vinci as a scientist is fascinating and enlightening. It begins with an overview of the scientific paradigm of the Renaissance.

Times of disruptive change always introduce numerous opportunities for growth and innovation. The Renaissance was a time of significant exploration in scientific and artistic disciplines, and da Vinci was an important player in those developments. His attention to detail and his diligence in recording observations in his notebooks should inspire every enterprising autodidact.

Competence in synthesizing multiple bodies of knowledge to form new insights is one of the most important skills that can be developed. A synthesizing mind becomes a creating mind. The Science of Leonardo is a thoroughly intellectual book, yet it is highly accessible. It should not be considered a final resource on any of the topics it addresses, but rather a helpful introduction to some useful material and a pointer to many further resources.