During the Renaissance, artists and illustrators developed the representation of truthful three-dimensional forms into a highly skilled art. As reliable illustrations of three-dimensional subjects became more prevalent, they also influenced the way in which disciplines developed: architecture could be communicated much more clearly, mathematical concepts and astronomical observations could be quickly relayed, observations of the natural world moved towards a more realistic method of depiction.

Through essays on some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers (Leonardo da Vinci, Euclid, Andreas Vesalius, William Hunter, Johannes Kepler, Andrea Palladio, Galileo Galilei, among many others), this book tells the story of the development of the techniques used to communicate three-dimensional forms on the two-dimensional page and contemporary media. It features Leonardo da Vinci's groundbreaking drawings in his notebooks and other manuscripts, extraordinary anatomical illustrations, early paper engineering including volvelles and tabs, beautiful architectural plans and even views of the moon.

With in-depth analysis of over forty manuscripts and books, 'Thinking 3D' also reveals the impact that developing techniques had on artists and draughtsmen throughout time and across space.