Book Notes: Pt 3: Key Elements of Leonardo’s Genius and Actionable Insights (From Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson)

Reading Time: 13 minutes

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

PublisherSimon & Schuster

ISBN-13 : 978-1501139154

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Key Elements of Leonardo da Vinci’s Genius

Relentless Curiosity 

  • Leonardo’s most inspiring and distinguishing trait was his intense curiosity. He was always asking questions and exploring new things. 
    • “His curiosity, like that of Einstein, often was about phenomena that most people over the age of ten no longer puzzle about: Why is the sky blue? How are clouds formed? Why can our eyes see only in a straight line? What is yawning?” (183, loc. 2797-2798)” 
  • He was constantly seeking knowledge from various sources, including books and experts from diverse fields. His notebooks are filled with lists of questions, ideas, and things he wanted to learn more about, such as how people walk on ice in Flanders, methods for squaring a circle, and the mechanics of the aortic valve.
    •  “I have no special talents,” [Albert] Einstein once wrote to a friend. “I am just passionately curious.” (497, loc. 7607-7608)

Keen Observation

  • Leonardo was extremely good at noticing things and observing the world around him. He stated that in order to really understand something, you should start by studying the small details. He was particularly skilled at observing motion, carefully studying the flight of dragonflies and the flow of water. 
  • He recognized recurring themes in nature, from the spiral flows of water eddies to the curls of hair and the vortexes created by bird wings. These insights enabled him to make connections that more traditionally trained scholars might have missed. 
  • For example, his understanding of water dynamics informed his groundbreaking studies of the human heart, leading to the discovery of how the aortic valve works centuries before it was confirmed by modern science.
    • “In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed, and the first of that which comes,” he observed. “So with time present.” (185, loc. 2832-2833)
    • And by using his knowledge of how water pouring from a pipe causes water eddies, he was able to envision the vortexes inside the human heart and how they would close a valve. ( 414, loc. 6342-6343
    • Water provided the perfect manifestation of Leonardo’s fascination with how shapes are transformed when in motion. ( 414, loc. 6344-6345)
    • “…running water has within itself an infinite number of movements.” (417, loc. 6386-6387)
    • he made an analogy, comparing the forces that create water eddies to those that create a hair curl: ( 419, loc. 6413-6414)
    • the essence of what motivated Leonardo: a joy in seeing the patterns that connect two things that delighted him, (419, loc. 6417-6417)
    • He realized that vortexes likewise occur in air when it blows past an object or when a beating wing causes an area of low air pressure. Like curls of hair, these swirls of water or air form geometric patterns—a spiral—that follow mathematical laws. (420, loc. 6435-6436)

Multidisciplinary Approach

  • Leonardo was interested in many different subjects and could connect ideas from different fields. He was curious about the natural world and used science to understand it better. Leonardo believed that art was a science and science was an art, often blurring the lines between the two in his work. 
  • His scientific explorations informed his art. His anatomical studies helped him understand the muscles that move the lips, leading to his painting of the world’s most memorable smile in the Mona Lisa. His explorations of optics informed his mastery of perspective and shading, which is evident in his painting of The Last Supper.
    • In anatomy, as in so many of his studies, he saw the art and science as interwoven. Art required a deep understanding of anatomy, which in turn was aided by a profound appreciation for the beauty of nature.(215, loc. 3283-3286) 

Technical Skill 

  • Leonardo da Vinci’s technical skill was evident in his ability to combine art, science, technology, and imagination. He had a strong sense of beauty and could create stunning works of art. 
  • As a young apprentice in Verrocchio’s workshop, he mastered chiaroscuro, the use of light and shadow to create three-dimensional volume on a two-dimensional surface; it became a supreme innovation of Renaissance art. He also pioneered sfumato, the technique of blurring contours and edges, to render objects more realistically. 
  • Through his studies of anatomy and the human body, he was able to portray the subtleties of motion in his art. His technical skill as a draftsman is reflected in his meticulously drawn Vitruvian Man, which accurately places the figure’s navel at the center of a circle and genitals at the center of a square. 

Innovation

  • He was always coming up with new ideas and ways of doing things. Leonardo’s innovations stemmed from his ability to combine art, science, technology, the humanities, and imagination. 
  • His work on theatrical productions for the Sforza court in Milan led to his creation of ingenious mechanisms for special effects and scenery changes, including a revolving stage and flying contraptions. 
  • Leonardo’s study of anatomy allowed him to accurately depict the human body and its movements. 
  • He also explored military engineering, coming up with innovative concepts for weapons like the multi-cannon machine, a precursor to the machine gun, and the wheellock for firearms. Leonardo’s maps, such as the map of Imola he created for Cesare Borgia, were innovative for their time, featuring an aerial view and precise details. 
  • He devised new methods for the visual display of information in his engineering, anatomy, and cartography drawings, which included cutaway shots, multiple layers, and separate drawings of each element. 
  • While many of his projects never came to fruition, his fantastical ideas foreshadowed inventions centuries later, such as scuba gear, flying machines, helicopters, and suction pumps.

Imagination and Fantasy

  • Leonardo possessed a combinatory creativity, perceiving patterns in nature and remixing them in imaginative combinations. Leonardo blurred the lines between reality and fantasy. He encouraged looking for inspiration in obscure things like stains on walls, ashes from a fire, clouds, and mud.
    • That, in a nutshell, was Leonardo’s signature talent: the ability to convey, by marrying observation with imagination, “not only the works of nature but also infinite things that nature never created.” (262, loc. 4003-4005)
    • He relished the wonders that can be seen by the eye but also those seen only by the imagination. (262, loc. 4005-4006)
    • It should not be hard for you to look at stains on walls, or the ashes of a fire, or the clouds, or mud, and if you consider them well you will find marvelous new ideas, because the mind is stimulated to new inventions by obscure things. (262, loc. 4014-4016)
    • His comparisons between man-made machinery and the handiwork of nature produced in him a deep reverence for the latter. “Though human ingenuity may make various inventions,” he wrote, “it will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple, more direct than does Nature; because in her inventions nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous.” (394, loc. 6028-603)

Embrace of Experience and Theory

  • Leonardo believed in learning from experience, often proclaiming that he relied on experience rather than the words of others. As a self-taught individual, he was initially skeptical of traditional thinking and established authority. 
    • Other than a little training in commercial math at what was known as an “abacus school,” Leonardo was mainly self-taught. He often seemed defensive about being an “unlettered man,” as he dubbed himself with some irony. (25, loc. 382-383) 
    • But he also took pride that his lack of formal schooling led him to be a disciple of experience and experiment. (25, loc. 383-384)
    • “Leonardo da Vinci, disscepolo della sperientia,” he once signed himself. (26, loc. 384-385)
    • This freethinking attitude saved him from being an acolyte of traditional thinking. (26, loc. 385-386)
    • I am fully aware that my not being a man of letters may cause certain presumptuous people to think that they may with reason blame me, alleging that I am a man without learning. They will say that because I have no book learning I cannot properly express what I desire to describe—but they do not know that my subjects require experience rather than the words of others. (26, loc. 387-390)
    • His lack of reverence for authority and his willingness to challenge received wisdom would lead him to craft an empirical approach for understanding nature that foreshadowed the scientific method developed more than a century later by Bacon and Galileo.(26, loc. 393-394)
  • However, Leonardo’s perspective shifted, due to the advent of the printing press and increased access to books. This access to written knowledge, coupled with his habit of engaging in conversations with experts from diverse fields, led him to recognize the value of received wisdom.
    • “Leonardo thus was able to become the first major European thinker to acquire a serious knowledge of science without being formally schooled in Latin or Greek.” (175, loc. 2682-2683)  
  • Leonardo came to believe that knowledge grew out of a dialogue between experiment and theory. He was a forerunner of the scientific method, advocating for the repetition and variation of experiments to ensure their validity. He came to understand that both experience and theoretical frameworks were necessary for scientific progress.
    • Foreshadowing what would become the scientific method, he even prescribed how experiments must be repeated and varied to assure their validity: “Before you make a general rule of this case, test it two or three times and observe whether the tests produce the same effects.”(178, loc. 2718-2720)  
    • “Those who are in love with practice without theoretical knowledge are like the sailor who goes onto a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain whither he is going,” he wrote in 1510. “Practice must always be founded on sound theory.” (179, loc. 2742-2743)  
    • As a result, Leonardo became one of the major Western thinkers, more than a century before Galileo, to pursue in a persistent hands-on fashion the dialogue between experiment and theory that would lead to the modern Scientific Revolution. (179, loc. 2744-2746)

Thinking Visually (and Mathematically)

  • He thought visually, particularly in his studies of proportions, perspective, reflections, and shape transformations.
    • The margins of his notebooks, and sometimes entire pages, would be filled with triangles inside semicircles inside squares inside circles as he played with tricks for turning one geometrical form into another with the same area or volume. (213, loc. 3254-3255)
  • While Leonardo was skilled in geometry, he struggled with arithmetic and algebra. 
    • Leonardo was not blessed with the ability to formulate math equations or abstractions. So he had to visualize them, which he did with his studies of proportions, his rules of perspective, his method for calculating reflections from concave mirrors, and his ways of changing one shape into another of the same size. (500, loc. 7656-7658) 
  • He favored geometric shapes because they were continuous quantities, unlike discrete numbers. Geometry was also a visual endeavor, engaging his eye and imagination. 
    • With his visual acuity, Leonardo had a natural feel for geometry, and that branch of math helped him formulate some rules for how nature works. However, his facility with shapes was not matched by one for numbers, so arithmetic did not come naturally. (203, loc. 3101-3103)
    • What Leonardo liked about geometry, as opposed to arithmetic, was that geometric shapes are continuous quantities, whereas numbers are discrete digits and thus discontinuous units. “Arithmetic deals with discontinuous quantities, geometry with continuous ones,” he wrote. (203, loc. 3107-3109)
    • In modern parlance we would say that he was more comfortable with analog tools, including the use of shapes as analogies (yes, that’s where the word analog comes from), rather than being a digital native. (203, loc. 3109-3111)

Collaboration

  • Leonardo enjoyed being around people and exchanging ideas with friends, companions, students, assistants, courtiers, and thinkers. His friendships were intellectual, sparked by sharing ideas at the Sforza court. The Sforza court in Milan, with its diverse assembly of talented individuals, provided a fertile ground for da Vinci’s collaborative endeavors. 
  • His collaborations led to some of his most fun and successful works, including the Vitruvian Man, his anatomy studies, and his theatrical productions. 
    • Ideas are often generated in physical gathering places where people with diverse interests encounter one another serendipitously. (165, loc. 2517-2518)
    • Conceiving ideas was for Leonardo, as it has been throughout history for most other cross-disciplinary thinkers, a collaborative endeavor. (164, loc. 2507-2508)
    • Unlike Michelangelo and some other anguished artists, Leonardo enjoyed being surrounded by friends, companions, students, assistants, fellow courtiers, and thinkers. (164, loc. 2508-2509)
    • those on stipend at the Sforza court included architects, engineers, mathematicians, medical researchers, and scientists of various stripes who helped Leonardo with his continuing education and indulged his insatiable curiosity. (164, loc. 2512-2513)
    • At the court of Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo found friends who could spark new ideas by rubbing together their diverse passions. (165, loc. 2519-2520
    • In his notebooks we find scores of people with whom he wanted to discuss ideas. His closest friendships were intellectual ones. (164, loc. 2509-2510)
    • Genius starts with individual brilliance. It requires singular vision. But executing it often entails working with others. Innovation is a team sport. Creativity is a collaborative endeavor. (501, loc. 7679-7680) 
  • Several examples illustrate Leonardo’s collaborative approach:
    • Vitruvian Man: The creation of this iconic drawing was a result of collaborative discussions and the sharing of ideas with architect-engineer friends Donato Bramante and Francesco di Giorgio.All three men were captivated by Vitruvius’s ideas about human proportions and their relationship to architecture and the cosmos. 
      • When Leonardo drew his Vitruvian Man, he had a lot of interrelated ideas dancing in his imagination. These included the mathematical challenge of squaring the circle, the analogy between the microcosm of man and the macrocosm of earth, the human proportions to be found through anatomical studies, the geometry of squares and circles in church architecture, the transformation of geometric shapes, and a concept combining math and art that was known as “the golden ratio” or “divine proportion.” pg. 164, loc. 2503-2506
      • formulated also through conversations with friends and colleagues. Conceiving ideas was for Leonardo, as it has been throughout history for most other cross-disciplinary thinkers, a collaborative endeavor. pg. 164, loc. 2507-2508
    • Anatomy Studies: Leonardo’s groundbreaking anatomical studies were significantly advanced through his collaboration with Marcantonio della Torre, an anatomy professor at the University of Pavia. Della Torre provided access to cadavers and anatomical expertise, enabling da Vinci to produce detailed drawings and writings that would have revolutionized the field if published. Della Torre and Leonardo were planning to publish a book together, but Della Torre died from the plague in 1511, so the book never happened.
    • Theatrical Productions: Leonardo found immense joy and creative fulfillment in working on theatrical productions at the Sforza court. These collaborative projects allowed him to combine his artistic and engineering skills, devising costumes, stage machinery, special effects, and entertaining performances.

 

Actionable Advice

The life and work of Leonardo da Vinci offer valuable lessons for us today:

1. Cultivate curiosity

Be relentlessly curious and pursue knowledge for its own sake. Leonardo’s curiosity extended beyond practical applications to the inherent pursuit of of knowledge for its own sake. Cultivating curiosity means actively seeking out new knowledge and experiences – asking questions, exploring unfamiliar topics, and being open-minded to different perspectives. By fostering curiosity, you can expand your understanding, discover new passions, and inspire creativity.

Embrace mystery and imagination. Don’t be afraid of the uncertain, unknown, or unclear. Leonardo knew not everything needs strict definition. Be curious about the world and find wonder in it. Leave room for the things you don’t yet understand.

Curiosity is a powerful tool for growth and learning. When you are curious, you seek challenges, take risks, and embrace lifelong learning. Ask questions, explore new subjects, and never stop learning.

2. Be willing to question established ideas and be open to new ideas  

Leonardo believed in questioning received wisdom and challenging traditional thinking. Despite his reverence for the interconnectedness of nature, Leonardo was willing to challenge existing beliefs when presented with conflicting evidence. For instance, he revised his analogy between the human body and the earth after his studies on water circulation revealed flaws in his initial understanding. 

It’s important to question established ideas and be open to new ones. Don’t just accept things because everyone else does. Be curious and ask questions. Look for evidence to support or disprove ideas. Be willing to change your mind if new information comes along. By being open-minded, you’ll be able to discover new things and find better solutions to problems.

3. Hone your observation skills

Leonardo closely studied the world around him, paying attention to details that others overlooked. He recommended observing each detail separately to gain a sound understanding. He was especially fascinated by motion, studying the flight of birds, the flow of water, and the mechanics of the human body.

To be a great thinker and observer, it’s important to pay attention to the details of the world around you. Notice the small things that others might miss. Look closely at the way light plays on a leaf, the patterns in a cloud, or the expressions on a person’s face. By paying attention to the details, you can gain a deeper understanding of the world and discover new and interesting things.

4. Value collaboration

Seek out opportunities to work with others and learn from their perspectives. Teamwork and the exchange of ideas can lead to greater innovation. Leonardo, contrary to the image of the solitary genius, often collaborated with others. He worked with assistants in his studio to execute paintings. He engaged in intellectual discussions with friends and colleagues at the Sforza court. His anatomical studies benefited from his partnership with Marcantonio della Torre. Leonardo collaborated with Luca Pacioli, a mathematician and Franciscan friar, on the book “De Divina Proportione” (On Divine Proportion). Leonardo’s sixty illustrations for Pacioli were the only drawings he published during his lifetime.

These collaborations highlight the importance of teamwork in bringing ideas to fruition. Leonardo’s approach encourages us to seek out collaborations and recognize that innovation often thrives in a team environment.

5. Document your thoughts 

Take notes and record your thoughts, ideas, and observations. They become a tool for capturing ideas, tracking progress, and fueling creativity.  Leonardo was a prolific note-taker, filling thousands of pages with his thoughts, sketches, and observations.  

He used his notebooks to record interesting scenes, engineering designs, costume ideas, and outlines for treatises. His to-do lists reflected his diverse curiosity, covering topics from mundane tasks to scientific inquiries.These notebooks not only documented his thoughts but also served as a springboard for future inquiries. 

Leonardo’s practice reminds us of the value of externalizing our thoughts and the enduring power of the written word.

6. Don’t be afraid to procrastinate 

Allow time for ideas to develop and mature. It’s important to give your ideas time to grow and develop. Sometimes, the best ideas don’t come to us right away. They need time to simmer in our minds and mature. By allowing our ideas to develop naturally, we can discover new connections, insights, and possibilities that we might not have seen at first. Rushing our ideas can lead to missed opportunities and less creative outcomes. So, take your time, let your ideas grow, and see what amazing things can happen.

7. Strive for perfection, but also ship

Know when to let go and deliver a finished product. Find a balance between your pursuit of excellence and the need to complete and share your work. It’s important to know when to stop working on a project and deliver a finished product. Sometimes, we can get so caught up in perfecting every detail that we never actually finish anything. 

It’s okay to let go of an idea when it’s good enough. As the saying goes, “done is better than perfect.” By knowing when to stop working and deliver a finished product, you can avoid wasting time and energy on projects that will never be completed.

8. Think visually

Visual aids like diagrams, sketches, and other graphics can be incredibly helpful for understanding complex concepts. Drawing analogies and seeing patterns are hallmarks of visionary thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci, who connected disciplines as diverse as anatomy, hydrodynamics, and art.

Creating or using visual aids allows us to break down intricate ideas into simpler components, make abstract concepts more concrete, and improve memory and recall. By thinking visually, we can discover relationships and see connections that might otherwise be missed.

So the next time you’re grappling with a complex topic, try supplementing your learning with relevant diagrams, sketches, or other visual aids. They just might be the key to making everything click into place.

9. Make connections and find patterns

Avoid silos – explore connections across different fields of knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci is a prime example of how connecting different areas can lead to innovation. His scientific explorations informed his art, from anatomical studies enhancing his paintings to fascinations with machinery influencing his depictions of motion.

Making connections and finding patterns is key to great thinking. Seek out similarities and relationships between different areas of knowledge, both in the world around you and in your own experiences. The more links you can draw, the more creatively and insightfully you can tackle complex problems.

Look beyond the confines of individual fields. Innovation often arises from bridging disparate domains. By embracing a multidisciplinary mindset, you can uncover new understandings and generate more creative and insightful ideas that might have remained elusive within narrower perspectives.

10. Be willing to overreach

Leonardo da Vinci had many big ideas, but he didn’t always finish them. However, his willingness to dream big and try new things made him a visionary thinker. He knew that to be innovative, you need to take risks and be okay with failing. He was always trying to learn new things and improve his work. He believed that there was always more to learn.

Even though he wanted everything to be perfect, this didn’t stop him from being creative. He was okay with not finishing things, and he saw his work as part of a dynamic process, always open to evolution. His futuristic  ideas about things like scuba gear and flying machines eventually became reality, showing that it’s important to imagine a future that is better than the present.


Read the whole series

Part 1: Book Summary 
Part 2: The Outsider Who Revolutionized Art and Science
Part 3: Key Elements of Leonardo’s Genius and Actionable Insights
Part 4: The Interplay of Art and Science in Leonardo’s Work
Part 5: Technology and Culture as Catalysts for Genius and “Scenius”
Part 6: Leonardo da Vinci’s Note-Taking
Part 7: Leonardo, Macchiavelli, and The Prince