The first time I saw Mona Lisa, I wondered what was special about it. People from all over the world visit the Louvre in France to take a glimpse at Leonardo Da Vinci’s magnum opus. And I never understood the painting. But neither did I understand art at that point.

The Man

Leonardo Da Vinci isn’t the most popular Leonardo today (looking at the guy who got kicked out of the plank in that freezing water). But those who have read about him know that he was something special. And I have always been fascinated with him. Not because he made paintings but because he made significant contributions in Optics, Anatomy, Military Engineering, Flight, Hydraulics, Cartography, Machine Engineering, etc to name a few. And he did it in a single lifetime. That fact alone is enough to spark an interest in him.

He was born out of wedlock. He was illegitimate. He was a homosexual. He was a vegetarian. And that was 15th Century. He was a misfit. Many people would consider him an anomaly (or in modern slang ‘weird’) if he was born today, let alone the 15th century. Also, he was very much distracted and most of his paintings took years to complete. Some of his paintings were incomplete when he died and he was working on them for many years.

The Book

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson is a book that delves inside that personality using his notebooks, historical accounts and all that is left of him. Due to his death being more than 500 years ago, the book speculates many times when faced with a hurdle. But making such a biography is an extremely hard task, so I have little complaints. As a short review of the book, it is fascinating to see all his discoveries that he made but sometimes you wished that you knew the man more than his work. A lot of the book is about explanation of his paintings and his curious pursuits, which is many times fascinating but can seem monotonous after a while. Overall, this book is quite an experience to get a glimpse of the character and his intellectual pursuits. And it also serves as a reminder of the importance of having curiosity.

Leonardo wasn’t educated. Neither did he study at any university at that time. But he believed in observation and could deduce significant discoveries by combining his brilliant observational and measurement skills. He was not born gifted and neither did he have great mathematical skills. But he had one thing which most people don’t have – Curiosity. Life is so much more fun when you are curious. Its like exploring the infinite, you can never finish and get bored of it.

The Painter

Before I read the book, I did never appreciate painters enough. My own painting skills are terrible to be honest. I have been blessed with the privilege of making someone’s eyes bleed due to my terrible painting skills. Those that don’t bleed, laugh hard at looking my paintings. But this book has made me appreciate great painters. Like a well-made art film, great paintings always leave something for discovery and exploration. In this case, Physics and Art are quite similar than most people think. Both these professions are about discovery and appreciating the connections that did not appear at a first glance. Great paintings are not just about aesthetics. But they also serve as a medium to propagate ideas and stories. They serve as a mix between reality and fantasy. And the great ones satisfy the Lindy rule, they survive long. I expect Mona Lisa to be relevant even after 1000 years (given if mankind exists peacefully). Many of his paintings served as a masterpiece of his culmination of knowledge and research from multiple disciplines. And that makes them truly special.

The Curious Nut

If I could take one trait from DaVinci, I would take his insatiable curiosity. I thought I was curious until I read about him. He was a person who pursued knowledge just for the sake of it and not to publish complicated papers in the journals like Nature. I think being curious is the single greatest trait one can have in living a successful and a happy life.

He grew up as a budding painter in his master Verrocchio’s studio. But as he grew older, he wanted to add more ideas to his painting and better his art. He thus studied optics to understand lighting and shading to give his paintings a realistic look. Just look at the eyes of Mona Lisa and see how effectively he mastered his understanding of optics. All his pursuits of knowledge including optics, anatomy, physics were started to facilitate his painting skills but soon he found himself immersed in them for the fun of knowledge itself. His curiosity often distracted him and often made him delve deep into his research. He discovered many things well ahead of his time but didn’t care to publish most of his results. 

At the end of his life, he writes “A well spent day gives a happy sleep, a well employed life gives a happy death”. Even though he was frustrated over not being able to solve thousands of puzzles he gave years to. Yet, i believe that that he didn’t have an ounce of regret on his deathbed.

Learning about Da Vinci has reinforced my belief that curiosity is one of the most important qualities one can have. Not only because the benefits it provides, but also because it is too much fun to go down that path. I love developing a multi-disciplinary approach and develop ideas by mingling those disciplines together. But deep down I also know, I can’t be even come close to Leonardo who is a hero of mine and a master at this synthesis of multiple disciplines. And I have no complaints.