An Inspiring Story

When Leonardo da Vinci was a young man, he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading artist and sculptor of that time. Verrocchio saw the immense talent in da Vinci and allowed him to paint an angel in his painting ‘The Baptism of Christ’.

Da Vinci’s angel was so breathtakingly beautiful and realistic that Verrocchio reportedly said: “We have a new master in our midst.” This event inspired da Vinci to continue painting and to become one of the greatest artists of all time.

Background

Leonardo da Vinci was not just an artist, he was also a scientist, inventor, and engineer. He believed that everything in nature was connected, and he was constantly exploring and experimenting with new ideas.

This quote, “Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason,” reflects da Vinci’s belief that experience is the key to understanding reason. He believed that we must first experience something before we can truly understand it and explore its hidden depths.

and Case Studies

Many successful scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs have followed in da Vinci’s footsteps and used experience as a tool for exploration and discovery. For example, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, took a calligraphy class in college because he was interested in design. Years later, when he was developing the first Macintosh computer, he used what he learned in that class to create beautiful fonts and designs that changed the way we use computers today.

Similarly, Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, reportedly tried over a thousand different filaments before discovering the one that worked. He viewed each failed experiment as a learning experience and refused to give up until he found a solution.

Examples

One example of how experience can lead to new discoveries is the popular science experiment of dropping different objects from a height and observing how quickly they fall. This simple experiment allows us to experience gravity firsthand and to understand its effects on different objects.

Another example is the field of archaeology, where researchers find artifacts and use them as clues to understand the past. By experiencing these objects and the environments in which they were found, archaeologists are able to piece together the reasoning behind the ways of life of ancient civilizations.

Conclusion

1. Experience is the key to understanding reason.
2. Learning from failures and mistakes is an important part of the experience.
3. Exploring and experimenting with new ideas is crucial to discovering new breakthroughs.