''Scientia est lux lucis'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "knowledge is enlightenment" (literally "knowledge is the light of light"), also rendered as "scientific knowledge is enlightenment." This is believed to have been said by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

(April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), the archetypal

Renaissance man A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

. The phrase is the motto of the

Vermont State Colleges The Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) is the system of public colleges in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961. There are presently four colleges in the VSCS consortium, they are: Castleto ...

, a consortium of public colleges in the U.S. state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. The phrase is also the official motto of the UK-based publishing house Palladian Publications and the

National Intelligence University The National Intelligence University (NIU), formerly known as the Defense Intelligence School, the Defense Intelligence College, the Joint Military Intelligence College, and the National Defense Intelligence College is a federally chartered resea ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

References

*Heimbach, Elizabeth. ''Latin Everywhere, Everyday: A Latin Phrase Workbook.'' Bolchazy-Carducci: 2004. . *Stone. Jon, R. ''The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations: The Illiterati's Guide to Latin Maxims, Mottoes, Proverbs, and Sayings.'' Routledge: 2004. {{ISBN, 978-0-415-96908-6. Latin mottos Latin words and phrases Vermont State Colleges Publishing terminology