A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science [Paperback] Author: Michael S. Schneider | Language: English | ISBN:
0060926716 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Download A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science Download for free books Download A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science for everyone book 4shared, mediafire, hotfile, and mirror link
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.
Books with free ebook downloads available Download A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science [Paperback]
- Paperback: 351 pages
- Publisher: HarperPerennial (September 29, 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060926716
- ISBN-13: 978-0060926717
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
This is a very well written book that relates some basic concepts in geometry to science, architecture and life. Each of the ten chapters is about a geometric shape and Mr. Schneider shows how to construct it using only compass and straight-edge. The author begins every construction from a circle, and every line is shown as the intersection of two or more circles. This is consistent with his assertion in Chapter One that the circle is Unity, but I believe it is also more accurate geometrically.
Mr. Schneider gets into the Platonic Solids, explains the golden section and its use in architecture and nature, shows the regularity in nature and a lot more. This is a very educational book that covers a lot of ground, and does so in an entertaining way.
What I really like about the book is the author's ability to bring geometry to life. There are many diagrams, drawings and pictures which make it easy to follow the text.
The book is written for the layman, not the mathematician. If you are looking for a more rigorous introduction to geometry, try reading H.M.S. Coxeter (if you can!).
This book would be a nice companion to "The Power of Limits" by Doczi, 'The Geometry of Art and Life" by Ghyka, and "The Divine Proportion" by Huntley.
If I had to recommend only one book about geometry for the average reader, this book would be my first choice.
By Kenneth James Michael MacLean
I'm quite biased because I'm the author. Just thought I'd mention that it took over 20 years of research and 2 years to write & illustrate (500 illus!), plus hundreds of relevant quotations in the side margins.
The numbers 1-10 (&12) are the key to the code of nature's designs, and are the basis of an ancient symbolic language used to design the arts, crafts & architecture worldwide.
Each of 10 chapters looks at that number & its related shapes, as they appear in nature's beautiful forms, in art, in symbolism, and as archetypes of our own spiritual nature.
Shapes are the characters of the alphabet in which the Book of Nature is written, and this is a "math" book with no math (the kind of cold "math" we were shown in school, anyway). Some people call it "sacred geometry".
This book will save you years of research, and show you how to appreciate the shapes of nature as a symbolic language familiar to our deepest self. Every shape has a "meaning" and this book shows you what they are. Reviews (Parabola Journal Winter 95, New Age Journal 8/95, etc, all remark how "accessible" it is.
I hope you enjoy it. If you read it, write me, if you like.
Happy Trails!
Michael S. Schneider
NYC
By A Customer
Book Preview
Download A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science Download
Please Wait...