>
>Greetings,
>
> Eric Seagel has commented that Leonardo di Vinci is "exceptionalism
>personified"; I would strongly argue that he is history's most overrated
>person.
>
> To begin, he was not a scientist. A scientist seeks to increase mankind's
>knowledge. Di Vinci did no such thing. Scientists PUBLISH their discovies;
>Di Vinci did not. All the discovies attributed to Di Vinci were actually
>discovered by someone else who published these findings and thus contributed
>to the development of those ideas. Many years afterwards, Di Vinci's notes
>(which he had kept secret) were found and it was learned that Di Vinci had
>previously had that idea. But by the time that Di Vinci's notes were
>discovered, the idea had already been well developed and Di Vinci did not
>contribute to that development. Di Vinci cannot, as far as I can tell, be
>credited with the discovery of anything; credit goes to the person who
>publishes and thus gets the ball rolling.
>
> For "exceptionalism personified", try one of Di Vinci's near
>contemporaries: Galileo. Here was a man who was not afraid to tell the
>world what he had learned.
>
>
>Kevin McCartney, Ph.D.
>Associate Prof., Geology
>Director, Northern Maine Museum
> of Science (opens October 5)
>University of Maine at Presque Isle
>Presque Isle, ME 04769
I must have mist the beginning of this thread, because I can't make the
connection between "exceptionalism personified" and a "scientist"
Personally my vote goes to da Vinci's rival, Michelangelo Buoanarroti. Creator
of David, painter of the Sistine ceiling, and architect of the dome of
St. Peter's. What did Galileo leave behind that some other scientist woudn't
have discovered, eventually!
Like it or not, creativity is the seed of all genius.
Bottoms Up,
Robert
--
Robert P. Van Eyk, Director * Providing Museum Quality Restoration &
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Restoration Services * Specializing in Antiques, Industrial Objects
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