"Leonardo da Vinci", Walter Isaacson - Notes - my Book 1 of 9 to read in 2018

In my One Word year of “focus” in 2018, I am reading 9 books and looking for people to read along with me for 1 or more of those books. The reading plan can be seen here. This 1st book for January 2018 is one of three that form the foundation of my 3rd Working Out Loud circle in Q1 2018.

I was inspired to read this book via the Tim Ferriss podcast episode with Walter Isaacson. That whole episode contained amazing content that could form the basis of a study group curriculum for discussion.

I read the book through January and into February 2018.

The book is colossal (in every sense).

I loved the depth of research that evidently has gone into its writing.

The combination of place, subjects, depth and width of coverage, Italy, history, arts, science, architecture and so on made this a great read for me as someone with a broad range of subject interests.

This was not a book for me to take copious notes from. That was a good thing as I tend to favour books that are well structured, bulleted, points highlighting and so on.

It was good to read about his life chronologically and amazing to read about his life and how he operated.

What We Can Learn From Leonardo:

The Most Curious People:

Leonardo da Vinci’s Notebooks:

As I got to the end of the book, the final chapter provided an amazing summary including the author's "Learning from Leonardo" list from the Conclusion to the book:-

1. Be curious, relentlessly curious
2. Seek knowledge for its own sake
3. Retain a childlike sense of wonder
4. Observe
5. Start with the details
6. See things unseen
7. Go down rabbit holes
8. Get distracted
9. Respect facts
10. Procrastinate
11. Let the perfect be the enemy of the good
12. Think visually
13. Avoid silos
14. Let your reach exceed your grasp
15. Indulge fantasy
16. Create for yourself, not just for patrons
17. Collaborate
18. Make lists
19. Take notes, on paper
20. Be open to mystery

I love this list!

I definitely plan to read more of Walter's books after reading this one for the content, the research, the analysis, the lessons, the writing etc.

Jen from Australia joined me in reading this book. She was not too impressed but I did encourage her to read the concluding chapter. Gail in Canada is reading the book in February and March 2018.

To help me further comment on the book, I found these book club-type questions on the Lit Lovers site that I will list and respond to:-

1. How would you describe Leonardo da Vinci as presented by Walter Isaacson in this biography? Does the author do an adequate job of making da Vinci accessible to 21st-century readers? Does he bring him to life as a living, breathing human being?
   A: As may be the world’s greatest polymath with a breadth and depth of skill and practical application of those skills. An immense mind. Definitely accessible. The author brings LDV alive and makes him contemporary. The book is written like a thriller and is definitely a page-turner.
   
   
2. Isaacson believes "genius" is too easily applied to people but that Leonardo was "one of the few people in history who indisputably deserved — or, to be more precise, earned — that appellation." Do you agree with Isaacson about our overuse of the term "genius"? How is genius defined? Can you think of someone, in either today's world or in history, who would qualify for genius?
   
A: For me “genius” means someone who invents or discovers something that no one else has yet. There were so many examples of where LDV discovered or propounded something that hundreds of years later became the established scientific wisdom.


3. According to Isaacson, da Vinci was self-taught and "willed his way to his genius." What does he mean by that statement? What are some of the factors Isaacson identifies as key to da Vinci's developing path to genius.
   A: LDV was on a seemingly relentless discovery quest. I sensed at no point that LDV became bored with that overarching quest. His fascination and curiosity and wanting to understand how things worked was key. The lessons to learn from LDV were listed above from the author’s concluding chapter. Some of the items on that list cut across what some people believe to be the case.
   
   
4. Having read Isaacson's book, what parts of Leonardo's life, personality, or his abilities surprise you most?
   A: I was not aware just how extraordinarily wide was LDV’s scope of capability and discovery. It kept me wondering what would come next and by the end I was not surprised at anything that LDV asked, discovered, and created.
   
   
5. Isaacson writes about Leonardo's astonishing curiosity. Consider the vast number and variety of objects and pursuits found in the 72,000 pages of the artist's notebooks — what the author refers to as the "greatest record of curiosity ever created." How does the author suggest that his inquisitiveness set da Vinci apart from his contemporaries?
   A: The range of LDV’s subject interests set him apart as being considerably wider than his contemporaries and those in similar fields that came after him to the present day.
   
   
6. Talk about another aspect of Leonardo's mental process: his ability to recognize patterns — the curls in water, hair, or wind. Why does the author believe that pattern recognition was important for da Vinci?
   A: This was where lots of his discoveries came and kept him discovering even when his hypotheses were not correct initially. This also was a result of his cross-disciplinary quest to understand how things worked.
   
   
7. Isaacson is particularly insightful in writing about da Vinci's great paintings — especially The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. Does the author enable you to better understand the significance of those works and how they furthered the development of art?
   A: I had no idea about any of the background to these paintings and is the first time I have read anything on how paintings are painted. This was a complete eye-opener especially when it came to explaining how the provenance of paintings discovered later were challenged and confirmed. This was a classic example of an expert explaining a subject in an engaging way. Fascinating.
   
   
8. Isaacson says we can all learn from Leonardo. What is it we could learn?
   A: I found this a hard book to draw lessons from as I am not a painter or sculptor or many of the other things that LDV could turn his hand to. See the list of the author’s “Learning from Leonardo”. Also, I got caught up in the story. Usually my preference is for books that are outlined and bulleted. I suspected this book would not be like that and is one of the reasons it was first on my list for this year. I am a completer/finisher so I was quite shocked to read how many things LDV did not finish. Also interested in how he did not deliver all his commissions and how he got away with it. Also how he kept changing allegiances as the political fortunes of his patrons waxed and waned. Good to see the use of lists. Surprised at the author’s emphasis on the power of paper. Also shocked at the inability to get hold of Steve Jobs’ emails given who he was and why they were not “retained” for later use.
   
   

I would definitely recommend this book to all audiences, including those who would say that they have no interest in the arts and culture. It is a great read and inspiring on many levels.

I want to suggest some additional resources to explore the life of LDV as presented in this biography.

Walter Isaacson’s talk at The Aspen Institute in The Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series. Walter is the Aspen Institute President and CEO:

The author being interviewed at The Aspen Institute:

Podcast: Leonardo da Vinci to Steve Jobs: The Benefits of Being a Misfit
Wharton professor Adam Grant interviews Walter Isaacson about his biography of Leonardo da Vinci.
[podcast]

"Leonardo da Vinci: How to See the World Like Nobody Else"
In late 2017, Salvator Mundi, one of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, sold for $450.3 million.
Zat Rana; Medium, 27 February 2018
[article]

“Would Leonardo da Vinci have been a coder or a hacker?… “

Would Leonardo da Vinci have been a coder or a hacker? @KathrynParsons, co-CEO of Decoded and a speaker at the GREAT Festival of Innovation, explores what helps create a world of ingenious minds. #GREATInnovation https://t.co/AoB1JyFq17 pic.twitter.com/MfNcDEdfR2

— Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) February 27, 2018

I should say that Walter Isaacson’s biography has definitely encouraged me to read more of his work.

Reading about Leonardo da Vinci has also encouraged me to read more about how to practically apply his thinking via Michael J. Gelb's book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day”:-

Michael J. Gelb talks on this subject in the talk below: