Leonardo Da Vinci (Giants of Science) - Hardcover

Krull, Kathleen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067005920X ISBN 13: 9780670059201

Publisher: Viking Childrens Books, 2005

Synopsis

For thirty years, the whole last half of his life, Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with unlocking the secrets of nature. His notebooks are the mind-boggling evidence of a fifteenth-century scientist standing at the edge of the modern world, basing his ideas on observation and experimentation. Scrupulously researched, juicily anecdotal, this book will change children’s ideas of who Leonardo was and what it means to be a scientist.

Award-winning biographer Kathleen Krull will focus on five other "giants of science"— Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein. Each book presents a compelling portrait of an individual as well as a picture of the world at a particular time and place.

About this title

About the Author:

Kathleen Krull is the 2004 winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for her Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. She lives in California. Boris Kulikov has illustrated Carnival of the Animals by John Lithgow, and Morris the Artist by Lore Groszmann Segal. He currently lives in New York City

From Booklist:

Gr. 5-8. Launching her Giants of Science series, Krull writes a lively biography of Leonardo da Vinci that highlights his scientific approach to understanding the physical world. The first half of the book describes Leonardo's apprenticeship and his work as an artist in Milan. The second half relates events in his later life, emphasizing his observation and investigation of the human body and nature. Discussing at length the remarkable notebooks in which Leonardo recorded his explorations, theories, and thoughts on natural phenomena, Krull suggests that had the notebooks been published, they would have changed the history of science. The book's frank discussion of Leonardo's life and times includes references to castration as punishment and a chapter discussing historians' disagreement over Leonardo's sexuality ("most think he was probably a homosexual") and his summons to answer an accusation "of having sex with a male prostitute." Though the handling is matter-of-fact, these passages may raise eyebrows in a book intended for "Ages 10 up" according to the jacket flap. There are no source notes. The book concludes with a bibliography, Web sites, and a detailed section on Leonardo's notebooks. Six excellent ink drawings illustrate this attractive volume. A very readable, vivid portrait set against the backdrop of remarkable times. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 067005920X
• ISBN 13: 9780670059201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 124
• Illustrator: Kulikov Boris