Rating: 
Summary: The Aesthetics of an Insatiable Curiosity
Review: This is one of several volumes in the Penguin Lives Series, each of which written by a distinguished author in her or his own right. Each provides a concise but remarkably comprehensive biography of its subject in combination with a penetrating analysis of the significance of that subject's life and career. I think this is a brilliant concept for a series of such studies. My only complaint (albeit a quibble) is that even an abbreviated index is not provided. Those who wish to learn more about the given subject are directed to other sources. When preparing to review various volumes in this series, I have struggled with determining what would be of greatest interest and assistance to those who read my reviews. Finally I decided that a few brief excerpts and then some concluding comments of my own would be appropriate. On Leonardo's "place": "Leonardo was not to be found in that place [Casa di Leonardo]. In fact, he is not to be found in [italics] any place. He is not a creature of places or monuments or even of permanence. He flashed across his time and was gone, leaving a vast body of work almost none of which except the paintings could be fully appreciated until centuries after his death, and far away from the house in which he was almost certainly not born. Quoting the famous statement of Freud, 'He was like a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while others were all still asleep.'" (pages 3-4) On Leonardo's "humanism": "Though he has often been called the ultimate Renaissance man, there is much to be said for the argument that Leonardo was only in part a man of the Renaissance. While he epitomized the zest for life and nature that was the guiding theme of humanism, he did at the same time eschew the dependence on ancient sources and the worshipful repetition of its principles that equally characterized its scholarship." (page 7) On Leonardo's cosmology: "Leonardo was intrigued by motion, and the forces involved. The continuous flowings of energy in nature and in the life of man are a constant and even a central theme running through his manuscripts like the streamings of waters to which he often alluded. Moving water, in fact, is his symbol of these flowing energies; it is vital to his conception of the universe." (page 47) On Leonardo's research: "...there is no evidence at any time during his seven decades of life that he ever stopped long enough in his constant pursuit of knowledge to allow himself the leisure to organize what he had discovered....putting it into neat little piles of knowledge must have seemed a waste of time and talent. What is more, his studies were really undertaken for Leonardo alone, and not for any wider purpose of educating his contemporaries; it was with himself that his studies conversed." (page 89) As is also true of the other volumes in the "Penguin Lives" series, this one provides all of the essential historical and biographical information but its greatest strength lies in the extended commentary, in this instance by Sherwin B. Nuland. He also includes a highly informative "Bibliographical Note" for those who wish to learn more about Leonardo. I hope these brief excerpts encourage those who read this review to read Nuland's biography. It is indeed a brilliant achievement.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Nuland has done better
Review: This is the second of Sherwin Nuland's books that I've read. The first, his biography of Semmelweis, was much better written. (I gave the Semmelweis book five stars.) Dr. Nuland's sentence construction in the Da Vinci book is often rather strange. I don't mean to pettifog, but I found his awkward sentence structure a distraction. That being said, I liked this short introduction to the life of Da Vinci. I knew almost nothing about Leonardo's life before reading this book. Now I'm equipped to read a weightier biography.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT SHORT STUDY OF A REMARKABLE MAN
Review: Well written, short study of a very remarkable man. This by no means is a comprehensive study of Da Vinci nor his times, but does give the reader enough information to search on, if interested. It was more like a survey of a life rather than a complete biography. I would highly recommend it. This type of study is great for those who like to know a bit of this and a bit of that. Need more like it. Thank you Mr Nuland.
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