In 1781, Thomas Paine came up with a model for a single span bridge; in 1887, Adolf Eugen Fick made the first pair of contact lenses; and in 1907, Paul Cornu built the first helicopter. But someone thought of all these ideas first, over five hundred years ago: Leonardo da Vinci. At once an artist, inventor, engineer, and scientist, da Vinci wrote and drew detailed descriptions of what would later become hang gliders, automobiles, robots, and much more. Gene Barretta cleverly shows how da Vinici's ideas foreshadowed modern inventions, offering a window into the future.

 

 

There are 40 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2016 by Palgrave USA .

Gene Barretta has written and illustrated several award-winning books for young readers, including Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare , Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci and Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin , as well as Dear Deer and Zoola Palooza . He lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Leslie, and their son, Ben.