Leonardo da Vinci – Lawrence V. Basso, MD

It has been more than five hundred years since Leonardo’s death and his legacy lives on. Dr. Basso will review his life and work and the circumstances that led to his development of multiple tools and skills. He was a painter, engineer, anatomist, scientist, sculptor and architect. The term “Renaissance Man” was specially coined to honor him. His brain may have developed differently, which may explain his strange mirror-image handwriting. He was a perfectionist, developed multiples ideas and had an insatiable curiosity. He kept careful notes of which we have about half of his four thousand pages. His dream of writing a book on Human Anatomy was never completed and was never published.

If he appeared today, would we be able to recognize him? He would present as an orphan with no formal education. He would be dressed in hippie fashion. He would be exceedingly handsome with his blonde curly hair. He would have a notepad often attached to his waist. He would have a natural ability to draw and play a violin-like instrument. He would have multiple interests and leave many projects unfinished. A doctor’s note would indicate he was dyslexic. His handwriting would be very strange and written backwards as it would appear in a mirror. He does not own a computer.

If this character were looking for a job in Silicon Valley, would you hire him?

Presenter and new Cenacolista Lawrence V. Basso, MD was born in San Francisco of immigrant parents from Liguria. He was raised in North Beach and from childhood was exposed to Italian culture. Early in life he developed an interest in the Italian Renaissance and especially the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci. Dr. Basso is a graduate of UCSF Medical School and spent his professional career at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation specializing in Endocrinology, where he was also chief of Nuclear Medicine. He has published over thirty papers and is co-author on a textbook about immunoassays. Dr. Basso lives with his wife in Palo Alto, and has three children and five grandchildren.