What if we exploded the myth of “Genius” and stepped into Leonardo’s workshop to understand how his mind worked?
 
Leonardo da Vinci is undeniably one of the most illustrious men to have lived on the planet, and this, it’s said, is down to his genius and his superhuman ability to grasp every aspect of knowledge and experience.
But this “genius” from Tuscany conceals many mysteries. How, for example, do you become a courtier when you’re born illegitimate? How do you become a military engineer when you started out in the art studios of Florence? How do you become Francis I’s “first painter, engineer and architect”? How do you segue from personal obsessions to universal inventiveness? This book invites us to discover every “audacity” of this man who wanted to understand all the world’s secrets.
 
A specialist in cultural history, Pascal Brioist is also renowned for his work on the history of science and technology. We have him to thank for the scientific design of the Léonard da Vinci Park at the château du Clos-Lucé in Amboise, France, where the Italian inventor lived. He is commissioning many exhibitions in France and worldwide to mark the centenary of da Vinci’s death.