From Library Journal
Gelb, president of the High Performance Learning Center in Great Falls, VA, urges readers to push forward toward their full intellectual potential by incorporating advice and examples from one of history's undisputed geniuses, Leonardo da Vinci. In this hands-on workbook, Gelb includes questionnaires that test the reader's senses and perspectives, a biographical sketch of Leonardo, plentiful line drawings, and exercises designed to stimulate and expand the reader's quest to learn more. Gelb adheres to Leonardo's belief that it is best to test knowledge through experience, that the senses can be tapped as a source of information and fulfillment, and that ambiguity is not a flaw. The seven DaVincian principles discussed can refine the use of intellect and teach the reader the unchanged art of thinking clearly and fulfilling one's potential. The result will appeal especially to curious adult readers and upper-level high school students preparing to excel in today's competitive world. For all self-help collections.?Catherine T. Charvat, John Marshall Lib., Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
No matter how diligently we apply ourselves, the truth is few of us will achieve Leonard da Vinci's intellectual level. Yet it's also true that in many ways the brain is much like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger your brain becomes. What Gelb does here, then, is to instruct us on the many ways we can flex, and improve, our intellects. Following a brief biography of da Vinci, Gelb, founder of High Performance Learning, lays out seven broad steps for working our brains with a variety of exercises applicable to each step. Throughout, Gelb weaves in examples from da Vinci's life, especially drawing from the great man's notebooks. The cumulative effect is quite impressive: a celebration of da Vinci's many achievements, matched with a convincing analysis of how readers can improve their mental prowess. A unique addition to self-help holdings. Brian McCombie
Review
"By capturing the very essence of DaVinci's life and genius...Michael Gelb guides us in a discovery and understanding of the boundlessness of our own full human potential."—Deepak Chopra, author of The Path to Love and Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
"A brilliant, practical guide to awakening and training our vast, unused resources of intelligence and ability."—Ted Hughes, author of Birthday Letters
"Buy it. Read it! Live it!"—Tony Buzan, author of The Book of Genius and The Mind Map Book
From the Trade Paperback edition.
From the Inside Flap
Michael Gelb's How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci is an inspiring and inventive guide that teaches readers how to develop their full potential, using the principles of Da Vincian thought identified by the author.
Beginning with a brief historical biography of Da Vinci and an overview of the astounding advances made in the arts and sciences during the Renaissance, Gelb illustrates the seven fundamental elements of Da Vinci's thought process:
Questionare: A questing, insatiably curious approach to life Dimostrazione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. "Whole-brain" thinking Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness and poise Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. "Systems" thinking.
Loaded with practical exercises, quotes, sidebars, illustrations and material drawn directly from Da Vinci's personal notebooks, How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci is both a tribute to his great achievements and a call to carry on his legacy in our everyday lives by utilizing our potential to the best of our ability.
From the Back Cover
Genius is made, not born. And human beings are gifted with an almost unlimited potential for learning and creativity. Now you can uncover your own hidden abilities, sharpen your senses, and liberate your unique intelligence -- by following the example of the greatest genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci. Acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, who has helped thousands of people expand their minds to accomplish more than they ever thought possible, shows you how. Drawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, Gelb introduces Seven Da Vincian Principles -- the essential elements of genius -- from curiosita, the insatiably curious approach to life to connessione, the appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. With Da Vinci as your inspiration, you will discover an exhilarating new way of thinking. And step-by-step, through exercises and provocative lessons, you will harness the power -- and awesome wonder -- of your own genius, mastering such life-changing abilities as:
-- problem solving
-- creative thinking
-- self-expression
-- enjoying the world around you
-- goal setting and life balance
-- harmonizing body and mind
About the Author
Michael J. Gelb is a world-renowned innovator in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and leadership development. His clients include Dupont, Merck, Microsoft, and Nike. He is the author of How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day and its companion volume, The “How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci” Workbook. He lives in Edgewater, New Jersey.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction: Your Brain Is Much Better Than You Think
Although it is hard to overstate Leonardo da Vinci's brilliance, recent scientific research reveals that you probably underestimate your own capabilities. You are gifted with virtually unlimited potential for learning and creativity. Ninety-five percent of what we know about the capabilities of the human brain has been learned in the last twenty years. Our schools, universities, and corporations are only beginning to apply this emerging understanding of human potential. Let's set the stage for learning how to think like Leonardo by considering the contemporary view of intelligence and some results of the investigation into the nature and extent of your brain's potential.
Most of us grew up with a concept of intelligence based on the traditional IQ test. The IQ test was originated by Alfred Binet (1857-1911) to measure, objectively, comprehension, reasoning, and judgment. Binet was motivated by a powerful enthusiasm for the emerging discipline of psychology and a desire to overcome the cultural and class prejudices of late nineteenth-century France in the assessment of children's academic potential. Although the traditional concept of IQ was a breakthrough at the time of its formulation, contemporary research shows that it suffers from two significant flaws.
The first flaw is the idea that intelligence is fixed at birth and immutable. Although individuals are endowed genetically with more or less talent in a given area, researchers such as Buzan, Machado, Wenger, and many others have shown that IQ scores can be raised significantly through appropriate training. In a recent statistical review of more than two hundred studies of IQ published in the journal Nature, Bernard Devlin concluded that genes account for no more than 48 percent of IQ. Fifty-two percent is a function of prenatal care, environment, and education.
The second weakness in the commonly held concept of intelligence is the idea that the verbal and mathematical reasoning skills measured by IQ tests (and SATs) are the sine qua nons of intelligence. This narrow view of intelligence has been thoroughly debunked by contemporary psychological research. In his modern classic, Frames of Mind (1983), psychologist Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences, which posits that each of us possesses at least seven measurable intelligences (in later work Gardner and his colleagues catalogued twenty-five different subintelligences). The seven intelligences, and some genius exemplars (other than Leonardo da Vinci, who was a genius in all of these areas) of each one, are:
Logical-Mathematical—Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie
Verbal-Linguistic—William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges
Spatial-Mechanical—Michelangelo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Buckminster Fuller
Musical—Mozart, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald
Bodily-Kinesthetic—Morihei Ueshiba, Muhammad Ali, F. M. Alexander
Interpersonal-Social—Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth I
Intrapersonal (Self-knowledge)—Viktor Frankl, Thich Nhat Hanh, Mother Teresa
The theory of multiple intelligences is now accepted widely and when combined with the realization that intelligence can be developed throughout life, offers a powerful inspiration for aspiring Renaissance men and women.
In addition to expanding the understanding of the nature and scope of intelligence, contemporary psychological research has revealed startling truths about the extent of your potential. We can summarize the results with the phrase: Your brain is much better than you think. Appreciating your phenomenal cortical endowment is a marvelous point of departure for a practical study of Da Vincian thinking. Contemplate the following: your brain
is more flexible and multidimensional than any supercomputer.
can learn seven facts per second, every second, for the rest of your life and still have plenty of room left to learn more.
will improve with age if you use it properly.
is not just in your head. According to renowned neuroscientist Dr. Candace Pert, ". . . intelligence is located not only in the brain but in cells that are distributed throughout the body.... The traditional separation of mental processes, including emotions, from the body is no longer valid."
is unique. Of the six billion people currently living and the more than ninety billion people who have ever lived, there has never, unless you are an identical twin, been anyone quite like you. Your creative gifts, your fingerprints, your expressions, your DNA, your dreams, are unprecedented and unique.
is capable of making a virtually unlimited number of synaptic connections or potential patterns of thought.
This last point was established first by Pyotr Anokhin of Moscow University, a student of the legendary psychological pioneer Ivan Pavlov. Anokhin staggered the entire scientific community when he published his research in 1968 demonstrating that the minimum number of potential thought patterns the average brain can make is the number 1 followed by 10.5 million kilometers of typewritten zeros.
Anokhin compared the human brain to "a multidimensional musical instrument that could play an infinite number of musical pieces simultaneously." He emphasized that each of us is gifted with a birthright of virtually unlimited potential. And he proclaimed that no man or woman, past or present, has fully explored the capacities of the brain. Anokhin would probably agree, however, that Leonardo da Vinci could serve as a most inspiring example for those of us wishing to explore our full capacities.
LEARNING FROM LEONARDO
Baby ducks learn to survive by imitating their mothers. Learning through imitation is fundamental to many species, including humans. As we become adults, we have a unique advantage: we can choose whom and what to imitate. We can also consciously choose new models to replace the ones we outgrow. It makes sense, therefore, to choose the best "role models" to guide and inspire us toward the realization of our potential.
So, if you want to become a better golfer, study Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. If you want to become a leader, study Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and Queen Elizabeth I. And if you want to be a Renaissance man or woman, study Leon Battista Alberti, Thomas Jefferson, Hildegard von Bingen, and best of all, Leonardo da Vinci.
In The Book of Genius Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene make the world's first objective attempt to rank the greatest geniuses of history. Rating their subjects in categories including "Originality," "Versatility," "Dominance-in-Field," "Universality-of-Vision, " and "Strength and Energy," they offer the following as their "top ten."
10. Albert Einstein
9. Phidias (architect of Athens)
8. Alexander the Great
7. Thomas Jefferson
6. Sir Isaac Newton
5. Michelangelo
4. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
3. The Great Pyramid Builders
2. William Shakespeare
And the greatest genius of all time, according to Buzan and Keene's exhaustive research? Leonardo da Vinci.
As Giorgio Vasari wrote of Leonardo in the original version of his The Lives of the Artists, "Heaven sometimes sends us beings who represent not humanity alone but divinity itself, so that taking them as our models and imitating them, our minds and the best of our intelligence may approach the highest celestial spheres. Experience shows that those who are led to study and follow the traces of these marvelous geniuses, even if nature gives them little or no help, may at least approach the supernatural works that participate in his divinity."
Our evolving understanding of the multiplicity of intelligence and the capacities of the brain suggests that nature gives us more help than we might have imagined. In How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci we will "study and follow the traces" of this most marvelous of all geniuses, bringing his wisdom and inspiration to your life, every day.
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO GENIUS
In the pages that follow you will learn a practical approach, tested in experience, for applying the essential elements of Leonardo's genius to enrich your life. You will discover an exhilarating, original way of seeing and enjoying your world as you develop powerful strategies for creative thinking and new approaches to self-expression. You'll learn proven techniques for sharpening your senses, liberating your unique intelligence, and harmonizing body and mind. With Leonardo as your inspiration, you will make your life a work of art.
Although you may already be familiar with Da Vinci's life and work, you'll finish this book with a fresh perspective and a deeper appreciation for this most enigmatic figure. Looking at the world from his point of view, you may also get a taste of the loneliness genius brings. But I guarantee that you'll be uplifted by his spirit, inspired by his quest, and exalted by your association with him.
The book begins with a capsule review of the Renaissance and its parallels with our time, followed by a biographical sketch of Leonardo and a summary of his major accomplishments. The heart of the book is the discussion of the Seven Da Vincian Principles. These principles are drawn from an intensive study of the man and his methods. I've named them in Leonardo's native Italian. The good news is that Leonardo's principles will probably be intuitively obvious to you. You do not have to try to invent them in your life. Rather, like much of common sense, they need to be remembered, developed, and applied.
The Seven Da Vincian Principles are:
Curiosità—An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Dimostrazione—A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn fr...
So you're looking for a way to be brilliant and creative every day? Gelb describes da Vinci's life and accomplishments and theories on approaching life, then suggests how to apply these principles to your busy life. Actually, this book discusses how to organize your life and offers extensive exercises for self-application. Gelb overemphasizes words--all those that are capitalized or have more than two syllables--then switches rhythm when all the words are short and simple. Repetition of key phrases and theories reinforces the "how-to" theme. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
