This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

In his profiles of great innovators, biographer Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, explores how humanism can inspire scientific achievement. With a new biography of Leonardo da Vinci, the original Renaissance man, Isaacson revives a pivotal moment in history in which people felt encouraged to question authority and investigate their surroundings. He explores how da Vinci’s variegated studies of anatomy, mathematics, archaeology, ornithology, botany, geology, weaponry, painting and theater were actually facets of a larger project. Isaacson introduces his readers to da Vinci’s high-flying imagination with vividness and clarity that is sure to inspire the polymath in us all.

Isaacson is a professor of history at Tulane University. His work as a historian is rooted in his previous career in journalism as chairman of CNN and editor of Time. Additionally, he served as CEO of the nonprofit Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies for 14 years. Isaacson also has a distinguished record in government, leading disaster recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and fostering business partnerships between the United States and the Muslim world. Come hear from a writer with both a brilliant, historical mind as well as a progressive, innovative outlook on the world.