Like a captivated child watching a magician's tricks, we demand to know "how?" How, that is, did a surge of Italian creativeness 600 years ago seemingly lay the foundations of the modern world?
Our curiosity about the Renaissance is almost insatiable, as museum curators and exhibition organizers are well aware. So it is timely that two of the best recent exhibits covering this great revival of art, literature and learning in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries have made their way to Tokyo in time for the summer holidays.
At Odaiba's newly opened National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, visitors can enjoy "Leonardo da Vinci and the Innovative Engineers of the Renaissance," while the National Science Museum in Ueno is hosting "Science and Technology in Italy from the Renaissance to the 21st Century."