Born in 1452 to a peasant woman and a country gentleman, Leonardo da Vinci possessed one of the most astonishing minds the world has ever known. He was an inventor whose imagination reached centuries beyond his own time. He brought a sublime artistry to science and a dramatic realism to art, crowning the Renaissance with his glittering vision.Denied a more noble profession by his illegitimate birth, as a boy Leonardo was apprenticed to a famous artist. He quickly surpassed his teacher, hut his passionate interests went far beyond art. Fascinated with the secrets of nature and the human body, he carried out his own dissections and experiments. He filled thousands of pages in his notebooks with plans and designs for inventions as varied as a submarine, an air cooling system, "glasses to see the moon large," and even a flying machine!But while he was employed by princes, popes, and kings, Leonardo's personal fortune was never great.
