Rating: 
Summary: A book to keep and savor!
Review: Gelb has crafted a beautiful book. Before I started to read I fell in love with the format and layout, the graphics and the art. When I started to read, I was amazed at how easily I could understand the ideas that were presented. These, of course, are listed above in the main review.But each idea makes perfect sense. What you will get from reading this book is a sense of assurance that a search for understanding is not only fully compatible with a life of beauty, but that it is a large part of it. The suggestions for incorporating these ideas could be overwhelming, but as Gelb suggests, they should be overviewed first and done later. This allows one to take in the book as a whole, getting an overview. I see this book as being a broadening companion to the current goals of organizational learning. It is at once a motivational tome as well as an excellent activity resource for broading systems thinking skills. This is one book you can savor.
Rating: 
Summary: Things I wouldn't have thought of!
Review: Wow! This is a really good book. It has exercises I wouldnt even have thought of to expand your mind, and I'm a experienced mind expander. Look at the world with the fervor of Da Vinci! Not much of a step-by-step plan, but has lots of things to consider. If you are a journalr, this will give you lots of ideas for what to write.
Rating:
Summary: I'm recommending this to all my clients.
Review: I'm a media consultant, and recently heard Gelb speak at an industry convention. I won't even try to spell the seven Italian words he had an audience of 2000+ pronouncing in unison, but his inspiring remarks made a convincing case that applying these 7 traits to your work can make you the next Leonardo.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, Great Model, Great Maestro
Review: This was a great book based on a great Maestro. The genius of DaVinci is inspiring and Gelb does a great job of piecing together the Maestro's genius into 7 easy to understand principles. For me, the practice sections detract from the rest of the book although I'd guess that many people find these sections helpful for giving context and making the principles pragmatic.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: One more poorly written self help book in a world that already has too many. If you're a fan of Oprah or Dear Abbey, then, by all means, read this book. All others beware.
Rating:
Summary: Superficial Observations and Brilliant Self-Help Exercises
Review: This book is very hard for me to grade. It contains some of the best and worst material I have ever seen, all in the same book. That combination is unprecedented in my experience. If the book were solely built around the exercises, I would say that it deserved more than five stars. If the book were soley built around the analysis and history of Leonardo da Vinci as a thinker, I would grade it at two stars. The exercises are so terrific that I urge you to read the book. I also urge you to see the text leading up to the exercises as merely an introduction to the excercises. If you want to learn about Leonardo da Vinci as a thinker, I suggest you go elsewhere for that guidance. I do encourage you read the Leonardo notebooks directly. They are fascinating. While you are doing so, try to imagine yourself with the limited scientific knowledge of the day. One of the things that you will learn is the power of conceptualizing what is needed that is missing. This helps to set the goal that energizes those who then meet the goal. Leonardo had enormous influence in this way with his pioneering work on helicopters, submarines, parachutes, and many mechanical devices. Research on creativity and innovation has shown that it is valuable to increase one's curiosity, testing of ideas, observation skills, openness to new ideas and ambiguity, whole-brained thinking, balance in life activities, and seeing systems connections. This book espouses those concepts as well. In fact, it felt to me like the author was more influenced by the creativity and innovation literature than by Leonardo. If the book had drawn on more of this kind of research, rather than just trying to oversimpify Leonardo da Vinci, it would have been a better book. As I read the book, I did at least one exercise in each section. I found these exercises to be very well constructed and that I derived great personal value from the experiences they gave me. I think you will feel the same way, if you are like me and want to improve your ability to see, hear, feel and grasp. The only totally inappropriate exercise I encountered was one that encouraged you to write backwards like Leonardo did. You should know that I am probably biased on this, for this habit of Leonardo's is primarily responsible for a miscommunication of his work that delayed the pursuit of many of his best ideas by others. Civilization is the poorer, as a result. The book also has a lot of self-assessments to help you understand what you need to work on. I found these to be below-par in value. The worst part of the book were the very poor reproductions of paintings by Leonardo. The Last Supper can barely be discerned. If images cannot be better reproduced than this, they should be left out of the book. After you have thought about reading this book or actually do so, I suggest that you also question as to whether or not your goal should be to think more like Leonardo da Vinci. True, he was a great genius. But he had his drawbacks. Most of his ideas did not see fruition in his own lifetime. He also spent most of his time either entertaining noble patrons with songs and stories or with creating war machines. What legacy would you like to leave? A legacy can be shaped by your thoughts. What thoughts will expand your legacy. Mother Teresa did not have to think like Leonardo to leave a great legacy. How can you think like yourself in better ways?
Rating:
Summary: Light on content and badly presented
Review: If this book had instead been 'How to Think Like Leonardo DiCaprio' it would not have been any more vacuous. Gelb simply presents a lot of recycled Reader's Digest-quality self-help in an ineptly executed 'You Too Can Be a Renassance Man!' package. Gelb narrates the book, and it stands as a VERY bad casting mistake ... his voice is soporific, and combined with the tedious content, cause me to worry that drivers popping this in for their commute might be lulled to sleep. Audio publishers frequently make this mistake ... HIRE AN ACTOR TO DO THE READING ... that difference alone can often make a mild success out of an indifferent book. Avoid this book, It is a waste of your time and money.
Rating:
Summary: Waste!!!
Review: The one great thing about this book is the title. After that it gets considerably worse. Mr. Gelb, it seems, doesn't really provide any great insights in how to think like Leonardo, but rather common sense ideas that you could get from the millions of other self help books out there. This is one book that I would recommend passing. The ideas are common sense, if not borderline ridiculous.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, fascinating, inspiring
Review: There is not much I can add to the many excellent reviews, except this: ~ get the HARDCOVER ~ The paperback is beautiful, but the cover curves back on itself because of the method used to print the front ... I believe the hardcover would be much better, especially if you are giving it as a gift. It is a good book. There are many, many beautiful illustrations throughout, making it a great gift. It has many useful techniques to help you shift your thinking. I hope you get it, enjoy it and learn ...
Rating:
Summary: Your Can Achieve Your Own Renaissance!
Review: This book is a perfect read if you want to have your own personal Renaissance. The seven Da Vincian Principles are things that everyone can accomplish and pursue. As you read, your life in put more in perspective and you start to see things that you may have overlooked. If you are doing activities that overtake your imagination and creativity such as eating on the run and sitting through rush hour traffic, it can happen. But, this book gives you questions that you are instructed to answer and also you come up with your own questions. It helps you see the world with a different eye and with more depth and wonder. There is great wisdom to learn from Da Vinci. He told us that "I will continue" through his obstacles and that "I wish to work miracles" through his everyday life. He aimed at reaching his potential and each one of us can do that as well. Read this book if you interested in taking the challenge to become the best you can be.
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