Happy Birthday, Leonardo da Vinci!
April 15, 1452.
554 years ago, a genius was born. Leonardo, Il Fiorentino or da Vinci, was born to his father, Ser Piero and his mistress Caterina.
Much has been said about Leonardo, his genius, his secrets and more. An interesting angle is from the University of Padua.
In this blog, I just want to mention a new book on his genius and suggest it.
Bülent Atalay's, Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo da Vinci, is a great look at the intertwining of science and art, as exemplified by Leonardo. Atalay not only looks at this man's genius but also highlights the historical milieu of scientific and mathematic learning, ranging from the Greeks to the Muslims and to the Chinese and Egyptians. He explains clearly the 'golden proportion', the introduction of Arabic 'numerals' into Western mathematics and the theory of relativity.
There are a couple of caveats. The author is sometimes a bit longwinded and takes time to get to his point. There are some technical errors (for example, he calls 'alimony' an exception to the prefix al- of Arabic origin; but the al- in alimony is not a prefix, but rather a part of the compound word originating from Latin meaning to nourish or sustain), and some endnotes are missing. But overall the book is fascinating and easy to read.
Tom
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554 years ago, a genius was born. Leonardo, Il Fiorentino or da Vinci, was born to his father, Ser Piero and his mistress Caterina.
Much has been said about Leonardo, his genius, his secrets and more. An interesting angle is from the University of Padua.
In this blog, I just want to mention a new book on his genius and suggest it.
Bülent Atalay's, Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo da Vinci, is a great look at the intertwining of science and art, as exemplified by Leonardo. Atalay not only looks at this man's genius but also highlights the historical milieu of scientific and mathematic learning, ranging from the Greeks to the Muslims and to the Chinese and Egyptians. He explains clearly the 'golden proportion', the introduction of Arabic 'numerals' into Western mathematics and the theory of relativity.
There are a couple of caveats. The author is sometimes a bit longwinded and takes time to get to his point. There are some technical errors (for example, he calls 'alimony' an exception to the prefix al- of Arabic origin; but the al- in alimony is not a prefix, but rather a part of the compound word originating from Latin meaning to nourish or sustain), and some endnotes are missing. But overall the book is fascinating and easy to read.
Tom
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