Celestial Tapestry: The Warp and Weft of Art and Mathematics

by Nicholas Mee

Overview

Artists and scientists view the world in quite different ways. Nevertheless, they are united in a search for hidden order beneath surface appearances. The quest for eternal geometrical designs is also seen in the sacred mathematical patterns created by the world's great religions. Tibetan monks fashion chalk mandalas representing the emergence of order in the universe. Moslem architects wrap their buildings in elaborate abstract tessellating designs. Celestial Tapestry places mathematics within a vibrant cultural and historical context. Threads are woven together telling of surprising influences that pass between the Arts and Mathematics. The story involves intriguing characters: the soldier who laid the foundations for fractals and computer art while recovering in hospital after suffering serious injury in the First World War; the mathematician imprisoned for bigamy whose books had a huge influence on twentieth century art; the pioneer clockmaker who suffered from leprosy; the Victorian housewife who amazed mathematicians with her intuition for higher-dimensional space.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192592934
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	09/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Nicholas Mee studied theoretical physics and mathematics at the University of Cambridge, where he gained his PhD in particle physics. He has authored numerous multimedia titles including The Code Book on CD-ROM with Simon Singh and Connections in Space with John Barrow, Martin Kemp and Richard Bright. He has played key roles in several significant science and art projects including the European SCIENAR project and the 2012 Henry Moore and Stringed Surfaces exhibition at the Royal Society. He is author of the award-winning popular science books Higgs Force: Cosmic Symmetry Shattered and Gravity: Cracking the Cosmic Code, as well as The Cosmic Mystery Tour, published by Oxford University Press in 2019.

Table of Contents

Contents
0. A Magic Carpet Ride
The Fabric of Space, Time and Matter
1. Into the Labyrinth
2. Earth, Air, Fire and Water
3. The Elements
4. The Wheel of Fortune
5. The End of the World is Nigh!
6. Interstellar Overdrive
Weaving Numbers and Patterns
7. Burning Down the House
8. Rampant Rabbits
9. There's Magic in the Air
10. Doctor Illuminatus
11. The Book of Changes
Drawing out the Golden Threads
12. The Vanishing Point
13. The Golden Number
14. Optical Skullduggery
15. The Perils of Parallels!
Higher Space and a Deeper Reality
16. The Laws of Thought
17. Free Love in Many Dimensions
18. Into the Fourth Dimension
19. The Bride Stripped Bare
20. Aunt Alice in Wonderland
Wandering Round the Knot Garden
21. Let's Do the Twist
22. The Gordian Knot
23. All for One and One for All
Casting the Celestial Net
24. Painting By Numbers
25. The Flat Earth Society
26. Mapping the Cosmos
Answers to Puzzles
Further Reading
Quotation Sources
Illustration Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

"very accessible, beautifully illustrated...wide ranging in theme and in ambition" — Wallace A. Ferguson, Mathematics Today

"The book is an enjoyable and very readable account of various topics linking mathematics to a variety of human activities and knowledge" — Ester Dalvit, zbMATH Open

"Celestial Tapestry is an invaluable overview of what we know about art and science, and the myriad great minds throughout history that wove our knowledge. Dr. Mee's strength is bringing the people of the past alive, and the history of art and science is brilliantly condensed here into a book that summarises the last two thousand years of human development." — Mark Sheeky, The Barracks Trust Award Winner

"The book comes across as a kind of tapestry collection, with one item leading onto the next in a successive association of ideas and threads woven together — it is quite some journey through the author's mind and reading, bringing out some intriguing connections and little-known items as well as recontextualising many great creative discoveries." — Paradigm Explorer

"In his Celestial Tapestry, Nicholas Mee has woven for us a richly illustrated warp and weft of mathematical ideas, displayed in a rich variety of pictorial forms. He also loves storytelling - the tapestry takes centuries to take shape, though the retelling of it is at a veritable whirlwind of a pace. Symmetry, combinatorics, spirals, labyrinths and the construction of the cosmos all appear in their ancient, Islamic and western episodes." — Professor Tom McLeish, University of York

"Nicholas Mee skilfully weaves together art, science, history and myth to show us the intricate and enchanting patterns that the universe provides and that we as humans discover and celebrate. An engrossing and highly readable tour through both time and space." — Ross King, Author of Brunelleschi's Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

"In this spiritual must-read, Nicholas Mee guides you through some of the most enchanting and intricate patterns in the Universe using art, science, history and myth." — Soul & Spirit

From the Publisher