Posts Tagged ‘Leonardo da Vinci’

Walter Isaacson, professor of history at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine. He is the author of The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men:Six Friends and the World They Made.

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects the art produced by history’s most creative genius to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s work was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

“When you write biographies, whether it’s about Ben Franklin or Einstein, you discover something amazing: They are human.”
— Walter Isaacson on Book TV (Feb. 1, 2015)
— Walter Isaacson on Michael Lewis in the New York Times (Dec. 29, 2016)

Leonardo produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.  With characteristic mastery, Isaacson explains how Leonardo’s life should remind us of the importance of imagination, questioning what we learn, and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

We welcome Michael Lewis back to our stage.  His bestsellers include The Undoing Project, Flash Boys, The Big Short, The Blind Side, Liar’s Poker, Moneyball,  Boomerang, The New New Thing and Panic, among others.  Michael Lewis previously appeared with Malcolm Gladwell at Live Talks Los Angeles discussing his book, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. Watch the video. We also hosted him for his most recent book, The Undoing Project where he was interviewed by Mindy Kaling.