Illegitimate, vegetarian, homosexual, left-handed, easily distracted, and quite heretical - Leonardo da Vinci posed many challenges to the society of the 15th and 16th centuries. And he gave back a lot. He peeled flesh from skulls to explore facial physiognomy, traced the musculature of the lips, and only then painted the unique smile of the Mona Lisa. He studied how light rays hit the cornea, thereby creating the changing perspectives in his painting "The Last Supper." Leonardo's lifelong enthusiasm for pushing boundaries fascinated the influential families in Florence and Milan, and it is still regarded today as a groundbreaking recipe for creativity and innovation. Walter Isaacson tells Leonardo's life in a completely new way by relating his artistic and scientific endeavors to one another.