Editors:
- 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
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (47 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Mathematics in Architecture
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Front Matter
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From 2000 B.C. to 1000 A.D.
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Front Matter
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Theories of Measurement and Structure
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Front Matter
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About this book
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
“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)
Editors and Affiliations
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Kim Williams Books, Torino, Italy
Kim Williams
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School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
Michael J. Ostwald
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future
Book Subtitle: Volume I: Antiquity to the 1500s
Editors: Kim Williams, Michael J. Ostwald
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1
Publisher: Birkhäuser Cham
eBook Packages: Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-00136-4Published: 19 February 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-37486-4Published: 06 October 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-00137-1Published: 09 February 2015
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 735
Number of Illustrations: 350 b/w illustrations, 58 illustrations in colour
Topics: Mathematics in Art and Architecture, History of Mathematical Sciences