Tweeting da Vinci

In this oddly titled work, geologist Pizzorusso offers novel ways to explore the ancient civilizations, literature, and art of Italy. She studies ancient Etruscan culture through the volcanic soil that produced abundant crops and grapes for fine wine, concluding that their religion may have been inspired by magnetic stones created by unusually frequent lightning strikes. Pizzorusso examines to what extent Virgil’s visions of hell in the Aeneid were actual landscapes, and she mines Dante’s The Divine Comedy for references to gems (both the scientific and the symbolic kinds). Her section on Leonardo da Vinci contrasts two versions of his Virgin of the Rocks, noting the accuracy of the one at the Louvre over the version in London’s National Gallery. The book is peppered with exquisite photos of art and nature, and there are many diversions on such topics as the composition and medicinal use of amber and other pigments taken from the earth. The book presents readers new ways of looking at history, and Pizzorusso delivers compelling information about the elements of the earth as found throughout Italy. Readers should note that there is nothing about Twitter and only one chapter concerns da Vinci, but otherwise this is a delightful journey. [em](BookLife) [/em]