The #1 New York Times Bestseller. "Walter Isaacson is not an art historian, he is simply a Leonardo enthusiast, who manages to communicate the joy of this remarkable man." - Books of the Year - The Times.

He was the most creative genius in history. What secrets can he teach us? Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art with science.

It shows how Leonardo's genius was rooted in skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with the fantastic. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa." But in his own mind, he was equally a man of science and technology.

With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and war machines. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and sciences, epitomized by Vitruvian Man, made him the most creative genius in history.

His creativity, like that of other great innovators, stemmed from having wide-ranging passionate pursuits. He peeled flesh off the faces of the dead, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted the most memorable smile in history. He explored the mathematics of optics, demonstrated how rays of light strike the cornea, and created perspective-shifting tricks in "The Last Supper."

Isaacson also describes how Leonardo's enduring enthusiasm for theatrical performances influenced his paintings and inventions. Leonardo's joy in combining diverse passionate pursuits remains the ultimate formula for creativity. So does his ease in being somewhat of an outsider: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, in ourselves and in our children, not just acquired knowledge but also a willingness to challenge it – to be imaginative and, like the gifted misfits and rebels in every age, to think differently.

Pages: 624, Year of Publication: 1018, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm.