Leonardo Da Vinci
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Overview
For more than thirty years-half his life-he was obsessively devoted to investigating Everything in the natural world. Nothing escaped his interest-how our eyes see, why the sky is blue, what forces build mountains, how light travels, where water comes from, and-most fascinating of all to Leonardo-the inner workings of the human body. Nothing stopped him. It was illegal to dissect human corpses, so he did autopsies in secret, even devising a clever way to slice through eyeballs (notoriously squishy!).Scrupoulously researched and juicily anecdotal, Kathleen Krull's portrait of Leonardo will not only change children's ideas of who he was, but also what it means to be a scientist.
Synopsis
Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks are mind-boggling evidence of a fifteenth-century scientific genius standing at the edge of the modern world, basing his ideas on observation and experimentation. This book will change children's ideas of who Leonardo was and what it means to be a scientist.
Publishers Weekly
With this illuminating biography, Krull (The Boy on Fairfield Street) kicks off her planned six-volume Giants of Science series. Krull convincingly portrays her subject, noting the Renaissance man's remarkably far-reaching accomplishments while also conveying his humanity and sense of humor. She places him in the context of his times, describing him as an outsider (as one born out of wedlock) and explains that the young Leonardo had a close rapport with his "scientist-farmer" uncle, and that "the natural world was Leonardo's first laboratory." When Leonardo became a teenager, his father secured for him an apprenticeship to Florence's leading painter and sculptor (luckily, "artists didn't necessarily have to be respectable," Krull observes with a wink), Andrea del Verrocchio. From him Leonardo learned that "an artist should be capable of rendering anything in nature." This lesson forged a vital link between science and art that endured throughout Leonardo's life. Krull describes the impact of Gutenberg's movable type, and the resulting knowledge giving rise to a greater influx of ideas as more people had access to books. The author also underscores the significance of a series of notebooks (written backwards), which were "the core obsession of Leonardo's life" and are "what place him among the giants of science." With an inviting, conversational narrative and Kulikov's (The Perfect Friend, reviewed Aug. 15) occasional atmospheric pen-and-inks, this series launches with an impressive start. Ages 10-up. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
With this illuminating biography, Krull (The Boy on Fairfield Street) kicks off her planned six-volume Giants of Science series. Krull convincingly portrays her subject, noting the Renaissance man's remarkably far-reaching accomplishments while also conveying his humanity and sense of humor. She places him in the context of his times, describing him as an outsider (as one born out of wedlock) and explains that the young Leonardo had a close rapport with his "scientist-farmer" uncle, and that "the natural world was Leonardo's first laboratory." When Leonardo became a teenager, his father secured for him an apprenticeship to Florence's leading painter and sculptor (luckily, "artists didn't necessarily have to be respectable," Krull observes with a wink), Andrea del Verrocchio. From him Leonardo learned that "an artist should be capable of rendering anything in nature." This lesson forged a vital link between science and art that endured throughout Leonardo's life. Krull describes the impact of Gutenberg's movable type, and the resulting knowledge giving rise to a greater influx of ideas as more people had access to books. The author also underscores the significance of a series of notebooks (written backwards), which were "the core obsession of Leonardo's life" and are "what place him among the giants of science." With an inviting, conversational narrative and Kulikov's (The Perfect Friend, reviewed Aug. 15) occasional atmospheric pen-and-inks, this series launches with an impressive start. Ages 10-up. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
The "Giants of Science" series brings us a fine edition dedicated to one of the great minds of all time. Many people think of da Vinci's art, but his scientific mind brought ideas, inventions, and research that have changed our world and continue to amaze us. Leonardo came from very humble beginnings. Many people influenced his very early life—for example, an uncle who loved nature and taught him many things about farming, plants, animals and the seasons. The artist Verrocchio became his early art teacher. His instruction included animal dissections to learn how their bodies went to together for the sake of painting or sculpting them. The invention of the printing press and the availability of books also gave many more options to Leonardo. He was curious about everything. This book will give the reader a good overview of da Vinci's life, the trials and the triumphs. There is also a bibliography of other works about him for young readers, website listings, and an index. A special chapter details where his famous notebooks are stored around the world. 2005, Viking Press, Ages 8 up.—Barbara Youngblood