1452-1519

On April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy, at three o'clock in the morning, Antonio da Vinci, Leonardo's grandfather, took out his small leather-bound volume, at the age of eighty, for the last time. Recorded in this volume were all of the important events of his and his family's life. Although he had not written anything in almost sixteen years, there was still enough space in it, at the bottom of the last page, for one small, last entry. In the space he wrote:

"1452: There was born to me a grandson, son of Ser Piero my son, on 15 April, a Saturday, at the third hour of the night. He bears the name Leonardo."

Leonardo da Vinci was a dyslexic Italian artist, painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, mathematician, scientist, and botanist during the Renaissance period. He studied philosophy, natural history, anatomy, biology, medicine, optics, acoustics, science, mathematics, and hydraulics...