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Sparked new interests and search for knowledge! Yeah yeah, it's "fiction", I get it. And, sure, in fiction referencing pieces of historical fact, you have to take "fact" w/a grain of salt or at least check out whether or not it's completely factual for yourself. But that's all besides the point! I loved this book! I was one of the people who paid little attention to the book's debut and a friend recently recommended it to me, so I went to the library (not wanting to invest money in purchasing it if it wasn't any good) and grabbed a copy. I loved it so much from the start that I was excited to purchase the illustrated version. Sure, the ultra religious are offended. Of course, critics point out any little flaw in Brown's research or interpretation. Again, it SO doesn't matter! Not only was this a plain old good story, but I learned a lot about the history of secret societies, art, math in nature - and it wasn't all from the book, but the book got me interested enough in all this stuff to do some further research (okay, so it wasn't hours spent in the stacks of a research library, it was Google searches, you caught me) on a lot of the information highlighted in the book. If this was a fictional book about a fictional painting by a fictional artist, no one would question it (well, the whole religious aspect might still have people in an uproar...). So, if you're looking for a page turner by a guy who is really REALLY clever, check out this book. And I highly recommend the illustrated version in particular b/c you get to see so many places that Brown references. It made me want to jump on a plane to Europe right now. Enjoy - and if you're concerned about the factual basis, do some MORE reading and check out that stuff for yourself. Whether what you learn confirms or contradicts what Brown says, at least you'll be learning something, right??