eonardo da Vinci was an artist who became a scientist by asking what underlay the world he so brilliantly depicted. Behind the asymmetric smile of the “Mona Lisa” lay a complex interplay of facial muscles; in sketching a waterfall, Da Vinci became fascinated by fluid dynamics. (Stefan Klein’s thought-provoking book, Leonardo’s Legacy, provides a persuasive account of this process of discovery.) The exact extent of Da Vinci’s innovations are a matter of debate, but surely there is no dispute that he was one of western civilisation’s great geniuses.
艺术家列奥纳多•达芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)能够精妙地描绘所看到的世界，但在探寻这个世界背后玄机的过程中，他成为了一个科学家。蒙娜•丽莎(Mona Lisa)不对称的微笑，体现了脸部肌肉之间复杂的相互作用；在勾画一座瀑布时，达芬奇迷上了流体力学。（斯特凡•克莱因(Stefan Klein)在他那本发人深省的著作《达芬奇的遗产》(Leonardo’s Legacy)中，令人信服地描述了达芬奇的科学发现过程）。尽管达芬奇究竟做出了多少创新发现还存在争议，但有一点毋庸置疑：达芬奇是西方文明史上一个伟大的天才。