“Studies on the Ashen Glow of the Moon,” from Leonardo Da Vinci’s scientific treatise “Codex Leicester,” which is on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Credit Bill Gates/bgC3, via Uffizi Gallery.

One note Leonardo wrote to himself reads, “Make eyeglasses to see the moon larger.” The first known record of a telescope came around a century later.

(Elisabetta Povoledo, “In Leonardo da Vinci’s Scientific Notebook, the Mind of a Genius at Work,” NYTimes, 10-30-18)

(c) 2018 JMN.