Leonardo da Vinci, whose Vitruvian Man, the drawing of the man in the circle in the square, is a symbol of absolute beauty but also precise science teaches us not to think in silos or disciplines, We often categorize ourselves as people who love science or humanities, however, one of the secrets of Leonardo’s genius was that he made no distinction between art and science.
Leonardo loved math projects—like how to square the circle—but he also loved music. He designed more than a dozen new musical instruments, and that involved knowing how sound waves work.
Leonardo teaches us the value of both being focused on things that fascinate us but also, at times, being distracted and deciding to pursue some shiny new idea that you happen to stumble upon. Balancing intense focus with being interested in a whole lot of different things is something that we have to do in the Internet age.
Auctioned in 1980, the Leicester codex was bought by the American magnate Armand Hammer and at his death, purchased by Bill Gates for $30M.