Every period has its legends, but among those people there can be truly significant characters, who turned the flow of history, created the most notable and useful things, that we use in our life. There are two great examples of the unique mentality, born in different times, Leonardo da Vinci and Bill Gates. These two legends rule different eras with their brilliance, yet their achievements in their time are almost similar.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in the period of Renaissance on 15 April 1452 and became one of the greatest artists of that time. He was engaged in different types of science, literature, architecture and, of course, painting; that is why he was considered as a polymath. This is a significant contrast from Bill Gates, who was born almost a century later and specialized in computer software development. Despite this difference, Gates has been known to be a private collector of the works of Da Vinci. Leonardo is reported to have developed the prototypes of inventions such as the parachute, helicopter and tank and also had other perspective ideas. The magnificence of this legend, however, was limited by lack of technological progress and as a result, he never succeeded in this prospects. The similarity remains that these two are geniuses and it spectacular that Da Vinci, is in fact, Gates’ source of inspiration (CBS News 1).
This computer genius is our contemporary and is well known as the owner of Microsoft Corporation – one of the biggest technology companies in the world. Currently, he is the wealthiest person in the world with the net worth US$77.5 billion. Despite the fact, that he dropped out from Harvard. His creative ideas had an opportunity to be implemented, probably because of his era, meaning that he had more luck than Leonardo da Vinci. To achieve this much success, it means that Gates must be a genius in his field just like Da Vinci was in his time. Gates, as a way to match the philosophy of Da Vinci, seeks to come up with ideas that are futuristic just as his were as seen in the case of the nuclear reactor that uses uranium and would not burn out. The need to be more similar could be the reason for Mr. Gates’ purchase of Da Vinci’s Codex valued at 30 million dollars. This book reveals the true genius in the inventors mind (Stone 2).
The common feature of these two outstanding personalities is the concept of Renaissance human, the dreamer, who has no fear to invent something new, to learn different branches of science and confidently implement those new things in the world order. It goes without saying, that Bill Gates became more successful due to the technology progress, but here’s da Vinci’s advantage – he managed to create some useful mechanisms out of the materials that were actual for that time. No more words, these people – are just the special ones, they are born only once in a century, so at least, it is a great pleasure to live with such an honorable man as Mr. Gates in one period. Gates admires Da Vinci, in the same manner, most upcoming inventors do him. He comments on Da Vinci that the most admirable thing about him is that despite his time and hardships, he understood what knowledge is, and that, is among the most beautiful things in this world (Baer 10).
Works Cited
Baer, Drake. “Why Bill Gates Bought Da Vinci’s Notebooks. Fast Company. 14 May. 2013. Web. 11 April. 2016 (http://www.fastcompany.com/3009718/bottom-line/why-bill-gates- bought-da-vincis-notebooks)
CBS News. “What Inspires Bill Gates?” CBS News. 9 May. 2013. Web. 11 April. 2016. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-inspires-bill-gates/)
Stone, Madeline. “Look Inside the Rare Leonardo Da Vinci Notebook Bill Gates Paid more than $30 Million For. Business Insider. 13 July. 2015. Web. 11 April. 2016 (http://www.businessinsider.com/look-inside-the-codex-leicester-which-bill-gates- bought-for-30-million-2015-7)
