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Leonardo Da Vinci to-do list reveals his insatiable curiosity about the world

Leonardo Da Vinci kept a to-do list. The thing that struck me was his interest in seeking out experts to teach him and show him how to do things. This list is from 1490 or so.

From Open Culture: “Da Vinci would carry around a notebook, where he would write and draw anything that moved him. ‘It is useful,’ Leonardo once wrote, to ‘constantly observe, note, and consider.’ Buried in one of these books, dating back to around the 1490s, is a to-do list. And what a to-do list.”

NPR’s Robert Krulwich had it directly translated. And while all of the list might not be immediately clear, remember that Da Vinci never intended for it to be read by web surfers 500 years in the future.

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