As tributes pour in to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, an Ottawa-based math professor is urging Canadians to think critically about the future, just as the Renaissance master did himself.

To mark the anniversary, which falls on May 2, Carleton University's Prof. Angelo Mingarelli has planned a series of year-long talks that explore the lesser-known aspects of da Vinci’s work. 

Mingarelli was first introduced to da Vinci by his father, who had immigrated to Canada from Italy and worked as a journalist for an Italian-language newspaper. The more Mingarelli studied da Vinci, the more passionately he felt about his multi-faceted genius.

"There is this unknown Leonardo that very few people know about," he told CTVNews.ca.

"Remarkably enough, painting was not one of the main objectives of his life. It may have started as his main objective, but it eventually became the principle of discovery."

While da Vinci may be most famously known as the man who created the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper,” he was wildly prolific in other fields.

For example, da Vinci is credited with solving the Earthshine mystery. Earthshine is the ghost-like image that forms behind a crescent moon. 

Da Vinci figured out that the image was actually the reflection of the bright side of the Earth on the moon.

"That was an amazing feat for someone in the Renaissance Period," Mingarelli said. "This was 500 years ago, before the telescopes."

Da Vinci, who Mingarelli jokingly calls the creator of "multi-tasking," was also an avid inventor, who designed weapons, modes of transportation and may have even created an early prototype of a robot.

But the continued celebration and fascination with da Vinci, centuries after his death, is probably due to the way he thought, more so than any one particular accomplishment, says Mingarelli.

"Leonardo, who lived 500 years ago, probably didn't think of himself as a futurist," he said. "But he was asking the right questions. He was looking at nature and then coming up with theories and then tried to analyze those theories in the best way possible.”

Mingarellis says everyone should care about discovering things for themselves, just like da Vinci.

“Eventually that’s what leads to advancement in the world.”