©James Bennett Dream by SV Bosak

1452-1519
Italian painter, inventor, scientist, engineer, member of the Club of Dreamers (Dream by Susan V. Bosak).

Da Vinci was one of the greatest inventor-scientists of recorded history. He was dedicated to the discovery of truth and the mysteries of nature, and his insightful contributions to science and technology are legendary.

He came up with designs for helicopters, submarines, contact lenses, and more long before anyone else had conceived of them. He also painted the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings in the world.

Said Leonardo da Vinci:

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself."

"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."

"Iron rusts when it is not used; stagnant water loses its purity and freezes over with cold; so, too, does inactivity sap the vigor of the mind."

"It is not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand what you see."

"The love of anything is the fruit of our knowledge of it, and grows as our knowledge deepens."

"I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engaged my thought throughout my life."

Recommended Reading:

Leonardo and the Flying Boy by Laurence Anholt. Barron's, 2000. An engaging story of one of Leonardo da Vinci's real-life apprentices, Zoro.

Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd. Dutton, 2003. The story of Leonardo da Vinci's life complete with detailed ink-and-watercolor illustrations, anecdotes, and background explanations.

Leonardo da Vinci by Kathleen Krull and Boris Kulikov (illus). Viking, 2005. Well-researched and full of enticing anecdotes, a story that will challenge children's conceptions of who Leonardo da Vinci was and what it means to be a scientist.

Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley. HarperCollins, 1996. A biography that combines storytelling with detailed illustrations.