The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook: Your Personal Companion to How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (Hardcover)

~ Michael J. Gelb (Author) "Curiosita An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning..." (more)
Key Phrases: ideal hobby, record your observations, good white wine, Leonardo da Vinci, Ambiguity Situation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Leonardo da Vinci is the perfect antidote to a dumbed-down world. Perfect for anyone with similar aspirations for self-actualization, the exercises in The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook are designed to provide a lifetime of cerebral expansion, using the seven parameters laid out in How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: curiosity; developing knowledge though experience; sensual refinement; a willingness to embrace ambiguity and paradox; linking the scientific and creative sides of the brain; physical poise and fitness; and understanding the connectedness of all life.

For example, to develop curiosity, one of the exercises has you ask people you respect to assess your strengths and weaknesses and to offer ways in which you could improve. Uncomfortable? Probably, for both parties. But if you're not curious about how others perceive you, you've closed off entire corridors leading toward self-knowledge and self-improvement. In the section on knowledge and experience, Gelb has you write down each new word you come across, along with its definition, and practice using it as often as you can. Da Vinci, he says, recorded 9,000 words this way. As Gelb notes in his introduction, this isn't a book that can be fully used up in a week or even a year; it could take 10 years to perform all these exercises. It would take months just to listen to the 10 greatest pieces of classical music he lists in the section on sensual refinement, and then listen to them played by different orchestras and conductors to distinguish subtle differences in interpretation. And, certainly, the simmeringly sensual recipes listed in that same section could lead to some very cozy evenings over the course of a lifetime. --Lou Schuler

Product Description

In the bestselling tradition of The Artist's Way Morning Pages Journal, The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude and The Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Workbook comes The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook--the companion volume to Michael Gelb's 1998 Delacorte hardcover bestseller.

Created to structure and motivate the reader's development of the seven da Vincian principles introduced in How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook represents the natural extension of Gelb's da Vinci line. As any modern da Vinci student knows, Leonardo's notebook both served as the incubator and repository of his unique genius and provides the foundation of any modern-day student's attempt to emulate that genius on his own. From the very first exercise in the original How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Gelb encourages readers to keep their own personal notebooks in which to hone their da Vincian skills; now he provides that notebook for them, with the added bonus of tips on exercises they'll recognize and new suggestions and assignments that will build on the work they've already done.

Designed to echo the inviting look of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, and structured to help readers focus on each of the seven genius principles, The How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Workbook is a companion volume that truly complements and enhances the reader's experience of the original book on which it's based.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dell (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440508827
• ISBN-13: 978-0440508823
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not up to par with its predecessor, January 26, 2001

By	dc (the author of Remedial Genius) - See all my reviews

I bought this book because I loved Gelb's book by the same title (not the workbook). I was mildly dissapointed. My advice, skip the workbook and read How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci again!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refining senses in a cluttered, rushed world., November 20, 2002

By	Marilyn Dalrymple "MaLing" (Lancaster, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Part of this book is for journaling and we've all heard how helpful journaling can be in different areas of our lives. That, however is not what I consider the value of this book.

Flip it over and you have the workbook part of the book. In this section the reader is made to sit down and think. Unlike journaling, where your mind takes you where it wants to go, the workbook gives us assignments.

For instance: Learning from Mistakes and Adversity (who doesn't want to do this?). This section encourages us to explore our attitudes toward mistakes by contemplating questions given. Following the instructions are two pages of questions that the reader must answer. In a word - it makes us think.

The work book also encourages readers to refine our senses. How often do we even consider doing this during the day when we have responsibilities piled upon us, clocks ticking the seconds away, and all the world'sgeneral confusion spinning around us? Not often!

I found this book enlightening, encouraging and helpful.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faced Paced World, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

The world is moving at a fast pace and I find that people are just thinking and not thinking about what they are thinking. This book gives you a chance to return to basic principles of continuous learning and self improvement. It makes you ask the questions - How do I lead? Who is my mentor. Where am I going? What will I leave behind? Am I making a difference or just going through the motions. At some point in everybody's life (just about) these questions pop up. This book presents the information in a creative, easy, and fun way. You also have a chance to learn more about Leonardo da Vinvi (a plus in it's self).