Editors Reads Verdict
Isaacson's biography of Leonardo is his most satisfying, because Leonardo is inexhaustible. The synthesis of art, science, and insatiable curiosity that defined Leonardo translates beautifully into Isaacson's narrative form.
What We Loved
- The notebooks are the primary source and Isaacson uses them to extraordinary effect
- The analysis of specific paintings — the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper — is exceptional
- The synthesis of art and science in Leonardo's work is handled with genuine depth
- Lavishly illustrated with reproductions of Leonardo's art and notebook pages
Minor Drawbacks
- The historical evidence for Leonardo's inner life is necessarily limited
- Some chapters on unfinished works feel incomplete by their subject's nature
- The book is more appreciative than critical of Leonardo
Key Takeaways
- → Curiosity and observation were Leonardo's primary tools — not formal training
- → The intersection of art and science was not a paradox for Leonardo but an integrated whole
- → His notebooks are among the most extraordinary documents in human history
- → Insatiable curiosity, even when it prevented completion, was the source of his genius
- → The ability to see what is actually in front of you — not what you expect to see — is learnable
| Author | Walter Isaacson |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Pages | 624 |
| Published | October 17, 2017 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography, History, Art |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Anyone interested in the Renaissance, the nature of creativity, or the life of history's most versatile genius. |
The Inexhaustible Subject
Walter Isaacson spent years with Leonardo’s notebooks — more than 7,200 surviving pages of observations, sketches, anatomical studies, engineering designs, and thoughts on everything from the movement of water to the nature of light — and produced a biography that is his most satisfying precisely because Leonardo is the most satisfying subject.
The man who painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper was also the most innovative anatomist of the Renaissance, an engineer who designed flying machines, hydraulic systems, and military engineering two centuries ahead of their practical realisation, a botanist, a geologist, a musician. The question Isaacson pursues is not “how could one person have done all this?” — the question is “what do all these things have in common, and what does that tell us about creativity?”
The Notebooks
The primary sources for Isaacson’s biography are Leonardo’s notebooks themselves — journals in which he recorded everything that interested him, in mirror-script that could only be read by holding the page to a looking glass. The notebooks are filled with lists of things Leonardo wanted to know: How does a woodpecker use its tongue? What does the sun look like from the moon? How does language work in the brain? The lists are themselves a kind of portrait.
Isaacson’s key insight about the notebooks: Leonardo’s curiosity was so broad as to occasionally prevent completion. He left many of his greatest projects unfinished, perpetually distracted by related questions. This was simultaneously his limitation and his genius — the relentless interest in understanding prevented the satisfaction that would have stopped the inquiry.
Art and Science as One
The chapter on the Mona Lisa is worth the price of the book alone. Isaacson walks through the painting’s technical innovations — sfumato (Leonardo’s technique of blurring edges to mimic human visual perception), the geological landscape in the background, the mathematical precision of the composition — and connects them to Leonardo’s scientific investigations of light, optics, and anatomy. The painting is both art and knowledge; the two are inseparable.
What Leonardo Teaches
Isaacson ends the book with a chapter of lessons drawn from Leonardo’s life. The one he emphasises most: Be curious about everything. Not everything you’re curious about will be useful. Not all the questions will have answers. But the habit of insatiable curiosity — of noticing things, asking why, following the interest wherever it leads — is what separates great minds from adequate ones.
Final Verdict
Leonardo da Vinci is Isaacson’s best biography — a fitting tribute to the most inexhaustible subject in the history of human achievement.
Our rating: 4.6/5 — A joy to read. Isaacson and Leonardo together produce something genuinely inspiring about the possibilities of human curiosity.
Ready to Read Leonardo da Vinci?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: