Leonardo was one of the greatest of the Renaissance seekers of knowledge because he rejected even the classical authorities and looked to the creation of "a more popular Renaissance" in which nature and man would reveal themselves the more they were studied (Bronowski 228).
Bronowski notes that Leonardo stood out from many of the men of the late Renaissance in that he believed that "we command nature only when we understand her, when we enter into her processes and give them scope to work naturally" (235). In this he was utterly opposed to and contemptuous of those who believed that they could only gain control over nature by casting a magical spell on it. This meant making nature work in a manner contrary to its laws.
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