Leonardo da Vinci's reading list

How did Leonardo da Vinci get so smart? Well, probably because of the books he was reading. This is Da Vinci's reading list. It includes Sphera Mundi, covering all that was known about astronomy, and Tolemies' Elmagist. And this book would have included Tolemies extremely influential, but incorrect idea that the Earth was the center of the universe. Da Vinci wouldn't live long enough to see Copernicus later introduce his heliocentric model. Next on the list is Euclid's Elements. Scholars believe that mathematical diagrams included in Da Vinci's edition of Elements may have inspired the diagrams he used in his own work. There's also Perspectiver, a medieval work on optics. This text helped Renaissance artists, like Da Vinci, develop a linear perspective in their artwork to give the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat canvas. Da Vinci drew hundreds of anatomical sketches of the human body, and he might have learned this from his copy of "Physiculous Medinisee," which also explored topics like medical astrology, bloodletting, and treatments for wounds or plague. Da Vinci also studied military technology from books like This One by Roberto Volterio, which may have influenced his designs of flying machines. In his lifetime, Da Vinci collected roughly 200 books in his own personal library. That number might not rival the book halls of today's booktubers, but back then it was enough to learn about and make contributions to several different fields. A full video on this topic is on my YouTube channel now.