9781422271766

LEONARDO DA VINCI

criterion, it is difficult to suggest another. An illustration of the difficulty in measuring genius may be found in the old, now abandoned, Intelligence Quotient test. One exercise attempted by its creators was to measure the intelligence of historical personages against that of great modern minds. Having completed a list, and including

such eminent figures as Isaac Newton, Einstein, and others, they added as a footnote that Leonardo had not been included because he did not conform to any measurable criteria, since the intelligence quotient figure they had arrived at was plainly impossible. The IQ system examined all forms of intelligence over a full

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