A Search for Structure: Selected Essays on Science, Art and History
Language: English
Published by The MIT Press, 1983
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Mispah books, Redhill, Surrey, United KingdomMispah books
AbeBooks seller since April 15, 2021
Condition: Used - Fair
£ 122.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Acceptable. Dust Jacket NOT present. CD WILL BE MISSING. SHIPS FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS.
Seller Inventory # ERICA82902626908293
- Title
- A Search for Structure: Selected Essays on Science, Art and History
- Author
- Smith, Cyril Stanley
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Publication year
- 1983
- Condition
- Acceptable
- Dust jacket
- Dust Jacket Included
- Book Type
- book
- Binding
- paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0262690829
- ISBN 13
- 9780262690829
—Meyer Schapiro
Science, art, and history all share common or analogous patterns of hierarchical order that are embedded into the structure of the material world as well. This is a central insight of these essays by a generalist who has also spent a lifetime working in his specialty, the nature of materials. To Cyril Stanley Smith, the transformation of metals from one state to another, or the contrasts at one level that merge through repetition into uniformity at a higher level, carries solid metaphorical implications for the human condition.
Cyril Stanley Smith's own expansion of outlook to encompass successively technology, science, history, and art is loosely implicit in the chronological ordering of the fourteen essays included in this volume and explicitly developed in one of them that "comes as close to an autobiography as I am ever likely to write" and traces the evolution of Smith's ideas on science and art.
Trained as an industrial metallurgist, Smith turned to the purely scientific study of the structure of metals and alloys after his experience at Los Alamos during World War II, drawn in part by his delight in the intrinsic beauty of these structural manifestations of symmetry and natural design. A growing interest in the history of the science and technology of materials led him to consult the artifactual evidence—the art objects in museums that either greatly predate written historical records or provide, through scientific examination, more reliable information than do the surviving documents of their period. This direct contact with fine or formal art only reinforced Smith's intuition that the aesthetic impulse is at play over the full range of human activity, whether it leads to the making of a bronze sculpture, a scientific theory, or a social reorganization. A variety of investigations of art objects is cited in the text, and the author regards the accompanying illustrations to be as important as the text.
In particular, the essays make the case that historically many advances and discoveries regarding metals and ceramics came about through aesthetic curiosity and the desire to improve works of fine and decorative art, rather than through scientific investigation or in response to the need for products having practical utility. Many techniques and even whole industries, Smith writes, began with the making and reproduction of art works.
Other essays deal with the emerging understanding of the remarkable properties of steel, the positive uses of corrosion, ancient casting and molding techniques, and the connection between attempts to reproduce oriental porcelain in Europe and modern geological ideas. Still others are more philosophical in approach.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Mispah books
Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since April 15, 2021
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 14 to 15 business days | 9 to 10 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 25.00 | £ 27.00 |
Payment methods
Store description
We have collection of General books ,Science Books, Fiction & Academic Books. we ship from multiple location. Delhi, US and UK Return Address Mispah books flat4 , Centenary court, 30 Warwick Road Redhill , SURRE RH1 1FQ United Kingdom
Specialty
Fiction & Academic Books, Science, GeneralSeller's business information
Mispah books
United Kingdom
Terms of sale
We offer excellent customer service & easy return facility.
we ship from Multiple location,UK,India,US
Return address:
Mispah books
flat4 ,
Centenary court, 30 Warwick Road
Redhill , SURRE RH1 1FQ
United Kingdom
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Mispah books, Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.