Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future
Volume I: Antiquity to the 1500s
Editors: Williams, Kim, Ostwald, Michael J. (Eds.)
Free Preview- The most complete anthology addressing a broad panorama of topics regarding relationships between architecture and mathematics
- Represents the state of the art of multidisciplinary scholarship in architecture and mathematics
- Sections dealing with specific historical periods are interspersed with sections regarding theory pertinent to those periods
- Hard-to-find essays collected in a single work
- Comprehensive introductory essays to both volumes by the editors providing a guide to the discipline
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- About this book
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Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order. Mathematics is also central to the production of architecture, to its methods of measurement, fabrication and analysis. This two-volume edited collection presents a detailed portrait of the ways in which two seemingly different disciplines are interconnected. Over almost 100 chapters it illustrates and examines the relationship between architecture and mathematics. Contributors of these chapters come from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds: architects, mathematicians, historians, theoreticians, scientists and educators. Through this work, architecture may be seen and understood in a new light, by professionals as well as non-professionals.
Volume I covers architecture from antiquity through Egyptian, Mayan, Greek, Roman, Medieval, Inkan, Gothic and early Renaissance eras and styles. The themes that are covered range from symbolism and proportion to measurement and structural stability. From Europe to Africa, Asia and South America, the chapters span different countries, cultures and practices. - Reviews
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“It presents several alternative historical and theoretical contexts of the relationship between architecture and mathematics which has been pushed to the foreground during the past decades with the increasing use of computer-aided design in their profession … . Historians of mathematics, too, will no doubt find useful material here for their research, especially if they are interested in the more practical concerns that have shaped the development of their field … .” (Yelda Nasifoglu, BSHM Bulletin, Vol. 31 (3), October, 2016)
“The study of connections between mathematics and the arts has grown considerably in recent decades, influenced by the work of Doris Schattschneider, Jay Kappraff, and Michele Emmer, among others. The use of mathematics is particularly a necessity in architecture, so the present set is welcome. … This is a valuable resource for mathematics, architecture, and the arts in general. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.” (C. A. Gorini, Choice, Vol. 53 (2), October, 2015)
“The ambitious goal is to describe both the intimate relation but also the alienation between mathematics and architecture and between mathematicians and architects. … It is an important and highly inspiring collection of papers that will be of interest to researchers from as many disciplines as illustrated by the diversity of the background of the authors. … Highly recommended for readers who do not want to drown or hide in their own abyss of specialization.” (Adhemar Bultheel, euro-math-soc.eu, June, 2015)
- Table of contents (47 chapters)
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Relationships Between Architecture and Mathematics
Pages 1-21
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Can There Be Any Relationships Between Mathematics and Architecture?
Pages 25-29
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Mathematics in, of and for Architecture: A Framework of Types
Pages 31-57
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Relationships Between History of Mathematics and History of Art
Pages 59-66
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Art and Mathematics Before the Quattrocento: A Context for Understanding Renaissance Architecture
Pages 67-80
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Table of contents (47 chapters)
- Download Preface 1 PDF (135.5 KB)
- Download Sample pages 2 PDF (159.2 KB)
- Download Table of contents PDF (129.9 KB)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future
- Book Subtitle
- Volume I: Antiquity to the 1500s
- Editors
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- Kim Williams
- Michael J. Ostwald
- Copyright
- 2015
- Publisher
- Birkhäuser Basel
- Copyright Holder
- Springer International Publishing Switzerland
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-00137-1
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-00136-4
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-37486-4
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XIX, 735
- Number of Illustrations
- 350 b/w illustrations, 58 illustrations in colour
- Topics