What defines da Vinci is his insatiable curiosity. Although, Da Vinci wasn’t curious in a standard way. The manner in which he hyper focused on what he was truly curious about, leaving all other things in the dust, was what allowed for his genius, but was also a draw back. Let’s take da Vinci’s enthrallment with human anatomy as an example. Da Vinci’s obsession with human anatomy in his notebook is evident. He has countless sketches and notes in great detail outlining all parts of the human body. He made many great advancements. His sketch of the Vitruvian Man, two depictions of a man, superimposed on a square and circle, was well ahead of his time and very accurate concerning the proportions of the human body. He also had some of the first accurate sketches of a spine, was the first to make the observation that the “heart not the liver is at the core of the blood system” (NIH), and the list goes on. Although, due to his propensity to be distracted easily, these sketches and notes weren’t published and recognized until many years later. This likely delayed the advancement of the field of anatomy by many years. This was the case with many of his other pieces of art. He left many commissions and potentially beautiful pieces unfinished because he was drawn towards something else.

One of the most important aspects of da Vinci’s genius is his ability to draw connections across multiple disciplines, enabled by his attention to detail and observational skills. His Vitruvian Man drawing, for example, was a showcasing of his ability to intertwine his knowledge in anatomy, geometry, and drawing to create this piece of work. Da Vinci also portrayed different aspects of nature, such as water vortexes and the way a stream moved, incredibly accurately as a result of his mix of detailed observation and incredible artistic ability. All of these examples are proof that imperial fields based on heuristics can be bolstered by curiosity and creativity applied in the right ways. A philosophy da Vinci lived by, proven by his advances in engineering, math, and chemistry. A true renaissance man.

A well rounded education, fueled by curiosity, with underlying themes and connections, will allow for one to become more of a renaissance man, similar to da Vinci. I say this because in the world of hyper specialization (which, don’t get me wrong, definitely has its upsides for society), is something which seems to be less and less common.

Roger Jones. (2012). Historical analysis of medical practices. Journal of Medical History, 25(2), 100-110. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361109/