Leonardos Brain, Leonard Shlain
Leonardos Brain, Leonard Shlain
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Leonardo's Brain
Understanding da Vinci's Creative Genius

Author: Leonard Shlain

Narrator: Leonard Shlain

Unabridged: 8 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/07/2014


Synopsis

Bestselling author Leonard Shlain explores the life, art, and mind of Leonardo da Vinci, seeking to explain his singularity by looking at his achievements in art, science, psychology, and military strategy (yes), and then employing state of the art left-right brain scientific research to explain his universal genius. Shlain shows that no other person in human history has excelled in so many different areas as Da Vinci and he peels back the layers to explore the how and the why. Leonardo’s Brain uses Da Vinci as a starting point for an exploration of human creativity. With his lucid style, and his remarkable ability to discern connections in a wide range of fields, Shlain brings the listener into the world of history’s greatest mind.Shlain asserts that Leonardo’s genius came from a unique creative ability that allowed him to understand and excel in a wide range of fields. From here Shlain jumps off and discusses the history and current research on human creativity that revolves around the right brain-left brain split. Most of us now know that there is a split between the right and the left side of the brain; the left primarily controls our rational mind, the right our emotions.Shlain discusses the cutting edge research that is refining our understanding of the split brain model and deepening our knowledge about the nature of human creativity. There is more integration between the left and right brains than previously thought. Shlain argues that Leonardo was unique in human history for the degree of integration that he showed. He also speculates on whether or not the qualities of Leonardo’s brain and his creativity presage the future evolution of man.Leonardo’s Brain integrates art, history, science, medicine, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy uniting all of the ideas that Leonard Shlain studied and wrote about since the publication of the influential and bestselling Art and Physics in 1991.

About Leonard Shlain

Leonard Shlain was a bestselling author, inventor and surgeon. Admired among artists, scientists, philosophers, anthropologists and educators, Shlain authored three bestselling books: Art & Physics, Alphabet vs. The Goddess and Sex, Time, and Power. He delivered stunning visual presentations based upon his books in venues around the world including Harvard, The New York Museum of Modern Art, CERN, Los Alamos, The Florence Academy of Art and the European Council of Ministers. His fans include Al Gore, Norman Lear and singer Bjork. Shlain died in May 2009 at the age of 71 from brain cancer shortly after the completion of this book. His legacy continues with his children who helped bring this book to publication: Kimberly Brooks, artist and founding editor of the Arts and Science Section of the Huffington Post, Jordan Shlain, doctor and founder of Healthloop.com and Tiffany Shlain, filmmaker, founder of The Webby Awards and director of the Sundance documentary, Connected, about the ideas in Leonardo’s Brain, as well as Leonard Shlain’s final year. Visit www.leonardshlain.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Eric on November 29, 2014

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Leonardo's Brain: Understanding da Vinci's Creative Genius opens in perhaps the saddest way. In the "Note to Reader," the author's children inform us how Leonard Shlain, while in the middle of writing this book, was diagnosed with cancer. H......more

Goodreads review by Cullen on March 28, 2020

Leonardo da Vinci, possibly this world's greatest polymath, is the focus of Leonard Shlain's one of a kind biography on this one of a kind man. The focus - what made his unique brain work? Shlain explores the life, art and mind of da Vinci, seeking to explain what made his brain work by looking at hi......more

Goodreads review by Emma on November 06, 2014

***Disclaimer: I received this book as part of a first-reads giveaway*** This book was well written and well researched. Leonard Shlain definitely presents something for both those interested in modern science (especially neuroscience) and for the history buffs. Although in a few places his argument......more

Goodreads review by Larry on December 10, 2014

Leonard Shlain is extremely popular but not that widely known. His lectures were standing room only and his former books like Art and Physics are amazing. Yet this was his masterpiece as he worked on it for years. As a brain surgeon, he knew what he was writing about as he studied Leonardo as no one......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on December 11, 2014

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. FTC guidelines: check! Leonard Schlain has written a comprehensive tome that looks at Leonardo da Vinci from the perspective of a brain surgeon and neuroscientist. This book is as complicated as the man it examines, being part informa......more