A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science

by Michael S. Schneider

Paperback, 1995

Status

Available

Call number

516.001

Collections

Publication

HarperPerennial (1995), Paperback, 351 pages

Description

The Universe May Be a Mystery, But It's No Secret Michael Schneider leads us on a spectacular, lavishly illustrated journey along the numbers one through ten to explore the mathematical principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and the human body, expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion, art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and underlie human affairs. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing, the Universe shows you: Why cans, pizza, and manhole covers are round. Why one and two weren't considered numbers by the ancient Greeks. Why squares show up so often in goddess art and board games. What property makes the spiral the most widespread shape in nature, from embryos and hair curls to hurricanes and galaxies. How the human body shares the design of a bean plant and the solar system. How a snowflake is like Stonehenge, and a beehive like a calendar. How our ten fingers hold the secrets of both a lobster and a cathedral. And much more.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member LynnB
This book is like a biography of the numbers 1 to 10; it's a look at how each of the numbers manifests itself in nature; how culture and mysticism have evolved around and from geometry. It's absolutely wonderful -- so much knowledge presented in such an accessible way. Lots of food for thought,
Show More
some trivial pursuits, all leading to a greater appreciation for our world.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kencf0618
This eye halvah for the mind makes a fine and instructive gift for the brightest girl or boy in your family tree -or for most any budding artist, mathematician, or mythologist. They'd doubtless graduate to Pickover's "The Loom of God" eventually. Marvelous and encouraging.

Language

Physical description

351 p.; 7.36 inches

ISBN

0060926716 / 9780060926717

Similar in this library

Page: 0.4333 seconds