Description of Leonardo's Universe and Biographical sketch of
Butent Atenay
Leonardo is known as a supreme artist, the creator of the two most
famous works in the history of art. What is less well known is that he
was only a part-time artist. His relentless curiosity to understand the
world drove him to study nature, make careful observations, seek
mathematical proofs, and record all his findings. Some of his
discoveries prefigured achievements we associate with Galileo, Newton
and Darwin. He even prefigured entire sciences not to be formally
invented for centuries. With unrivaled drafting skills, he created
mechanical drawings for future technology, and anatomical studies that
would never be equaled. But then, when he created his miraculous
paintings, he imbued them with his scientific passions — his intuitive
knowledge of optics, geology, hydrology and mathematics. Leonardo was
in the business of inventing the future. But since he never got around
to publishing his discoveries, he did not materially influence the
future. Therein lies the tragedy of Leonardo.
Physicist-artist-author Bulent Atalay invokes Leonardo’s model, in
order to achieve the larger goal of achieving a synthesis of disparate
fields by presenting science through art, and art through science.
BIO — BULENT ATALAY
Bulent Atalay was born in Ankara, Turkey. After his early education at
Eton (UK) and St. Andrew's School (Delaware), site of the 1989 Robin
Williams film, "Dead Poets Society,” he received BS, MS, MA and Ph.D.
degrees and completed post-doctoral work in theoretical physics at
Georgetown, UC-Berkeley, Princeton and Oxford. He is a professor
of physics at the University of Mary Washington, an adjunct professor
at the University of Virginia, and a member of the Institute for
Advanced Study at Princeton.
He is also an accomplished artist, who has presented his works in
one-man exhibitions in London and Washington. His two books of
lithographs; "Lands of Washington" and "Oxford and the English
Countryside" can be found in the permanent collections of Buckingham
Palace, the Smithsonian, and the White House.
He lectures around the world on disparate subjects — he has spoken to
physicists and engineers at NASA and NIST; to economists at the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund; physicians at Johns Hopkins
and National Institute of Health; and to academics at Caltech,
Stanford, Harvard…
His highly acclaimed book, Math and the Mona Lisa (Smithsonian Books,
2004) has appeared in twelve languages. His most recent book,
Leonardo's Universe (National Geographic Books, 2009) was chosen by the
Encyclopedia Britannica blog writer as “One of ten must-have books for
the year,” and has already appeared in Japanese. Professor Atalay’s
website can be seen at www.bulentatalay.com