How do we teach young people to be the leaders of tomorrow? How can we help them to be curious and engaged lifelong learners, empowered with the skills to thrive in the 21st Century? Whittlesea Tech School is one of 10 Tech Schools created by the government of Victoria to provide free high-tech STEM (Science, […]
Future machines inspired by Leonardo Read More »
Is your New Year’s resolution to be more creative, a more effective problem-solver, more compassionate, healthier and happier? If so, consider learning how to be a polymath like Leonardo da Vinci! Leonardo knew that everything is connected to everything else. He learned from nature. His fascination with the anatomy of humans and animals, as well
Learn how to see with Leonardo Read More »
When in the 15th Century a young Leonardo da Vinci discovered fossilized shells, whale and fish bones in mountain caves in the north Italian Alps he questioned the prevailing Judeo-Christian worldview of his time. Da Vinci is famous for his exquisite paintings and during his lifetime was sought after as a military engineer and inventor.
Da Vinci in Las Vegas Read More »
“Leonardo da Vinci’s most important legacy was his capacity to generate new ideas.” For the first time in Australia, community, business and thought leaders will participate in a conversation to explore Leonardo’s technical brilliance alongside his personal attributes of curiosity, observation and reflection, imagination, determination, courage and collaboration. Join guest speaker, MP Dr Tien Kieu,
Learn from Leonardo Read More »
Education experts and historians may be able to shed some light on what stage in the evolution of Western civilisation we started to think that learning is a serious affair and somehow separate from playing. This distinction is as misguided, and as unhelpful, as the distinction between the processes that lead to scientific discovery and
Learning should be fun! Read More »
Albert Einstein may, or may not, have said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” A century ago the American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist Charles Sanders Peirce wrote that inductive and deductive reasoning on their own never led to a new idea. He warned
The role of imagination in science Read More »
Raphael’s masterpiece, The School of Athens (1509 – 1511) is a who’s who of influential philosophers, mathematicians and scientists spanning 2000 years of Western civilisation. With Plato and Aristotle as the central figures, the iconic fresco has come to symbolise the connections between art, philosophy and science. Framed by the impressive arch and dwarfed at
Critical Thinking, Science and Art Read More »
It is a little-known fact that Leonardo da Vinci worked in entertainment. Of course, the industry didn’t exist in the Renaissance, but da Vinci was a skilled musician and he created and played quirky and beautiful musical instruments. There are many written accounts of the elaborate theatrical props that da Vinci invented as well as
Leonardo\’s funny bone Read More »
What do the world’s greatest thinkers, scientists, artists, and visionaries have in common? Archimedes of Syracuse, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo Galilei drew on the scientific knowledge of their times. They observed, measured, and imagined. They challenged widely accepted and long-held beliefs and created new knowledge. Each of them tested their hypotheses and adjusted their
The nature of genius Read More »
David Unaipon (1872 – 1967), a Ngarrindjeri man of the Coorong region of South Australia, was an author, inventor, evangelical preacher, and political activist. His many significant accomplishments during a period that book-ends Australian federation challenged the prejudiced stereotypes held about Aboriginal people. Unaipon spent much of his life reading science books and was particularly
Australia’s da Vinci Read More »