"Michael White's biography argues that Leonardo was, through the scope of his investigations and his desire to push back the boundaries of knowledge, nothing less than 'The First Scientist'. Exploring the legacy of research he left behind - lost for two hundred years after his death, and probably half of it lost for ever - White finds evidence not just of a true polymath but of a true man of science.

His notebooks contain thoughts on such diverse subjects as the construction of siege towers; the flight of birds; the internal workings of the kidney and the craters of the Moon. When his researches were rediscovered, later scientists realised he had made startling advances in the fields of optics, mechanics, astronomy, geology and anatomy, among others.".

"Weaving this history of early scientific endeavour into the colourful story of Leonardo's personal life - the deprivations of his childhood, his homosexuality, his relationships with contemporaries from Machiavelli to Cesare Borgia - Michael White presents a case for a re-evaluation of this most remarkable man and a study of the definitive amalgamation of art and science."--BOOK JACKET.