When my local paper interviews someone, they often ask, "Who would you most like to eat dinner with?" The responses are the usual: Abe, George (either Bush or Washington), MLK, JFK, some sports super star, or Jesus.

Don't we know enough about them already? I have a long list of who I'd like to spend an evening with. A politician or sports figure or religious person isn't on it.

I can think of Charles Darwin or John Wesley Powell or Eratosthenes, a hundred others. But my first choice would be Leonardo da Vinci.

What a genius. He was a man of enormous talents--a man of science AND of art. A rare combination. His inventions far preceded his time: flying machines, submarines, weaponry. And we all know about his paintings: the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, etc.

I would love to hear his thoughts about every subject from astronomy and anatomy to zoology. My interest in Leonardo began in the fifth grade when my parents took me to an exhibit of his inventions at Purdue. We know much about his accomplishments, but little about his life. Was he gay or just a loner? What were his feeling about humanity? Who was the real Leonardo? Talk to me, my hero.