Just like a modern scientist today, Leonardo da Vinci used systematic observations, logical reasoning, and experimentation in order to satisfy his curiosity. Infusing a passion for observation and questioning in our students is the first step to engage learners in scientific investigation. Students that create and maintain a science notebook in the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks have a powerful tool that can be used to make connections and to expand their understanding of the world around them.

1. Leonardo da Vinci
The Art of Science
by Luis J. Hernández

2. Leonardo da Vinci
(April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519)
Just like any modern scientist today,
Leonardo da Vinci used systematic
observations, logical reasoning, and
experimentation to find answers that
would satisfy his immense curiosity.
!
For more than 40 years, Leonardo da
Vinci gathered his observations and
ideas in his now famous “Notebooks”.

3. Without a doubt, observation was at the
core of his scientific exploration.
Leonardo’s approach to scientific
knowledge was visual. For him, art and
science were one, the “science of
painting” as he referred to it.
For Leonardo, drawing was the ideal way to explore the
whole range of the natural phenomena. As an artist, he
understood the importance of observation, and the
intimate connection between the arts and the underlying
principals of science.
"All our knowledge is the
offspring of our perceptions."
Leonardo da Vinci

4. “Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind:
Study the science of art.
Study the art of science.
Develop your senses- especially learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci
For Leonardo the scientist, as well for Leonardo the
artist, the most important tool was the eye.
“The eye”, he would say, “is said to be the window of
the soul, is the principal means whereby sensory
awareness can most abundantly and magnificently
contemplate the infinite works of nature.”

5. As educators, we should support our
teaching with images to bring ideas,
concepts and processes to life.
“The noblest pleasure is the
joy of understanding.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Students that create and maintain a
notebook in the style of the Leonardo
da Vinci’s notebooks have a powerful
tool that can be used to make
connections and to expand their
understanding of the world around
them.
Sketching, labeling, and coloring
as forms of note taking have a
radical impact on creative
problem solving and deep
information processing.

6. You are invited to use the
life and work of Leonardo
da Vinci as a tool to
introduce your students to
the power of visual literacy.
In this new book we learn about Leonardo’s constant exploration since
the days of his childhood in the town of Vinci, and how students of any
age can find inspiration in his work to create and maintain an interactive
science notebook.