The Artful Universe Expanded

Barrow, Sir John; Barrow, John D.

ISBN 10: 019280569X / ISBN 13: 9780192805690

Published by Oxford Univ Pr, Oxford, 2005

About this Item

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. First edition. 8vo. Cloth binding, 321 pp. including index. From natural forces and multiverses to the music of Bach and the art of Jackson Pollock, The Artful Universe Expanded is an exploration of breathtaking scope that reveals how our existence and culture are framed and guided by the deep physical and mathematical structure of the Universe. Fine in fine dustjacket, protected with an archival-quality mylar cover.

Seller Inventory # 012363

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Artful Universe Expanded
• Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019280569X
• ISBN 13: 9780192805690
• Binding: Cloth
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Mathematics
  • Science and Nature

About this title

Synopsis

In <i>The Artful Universe Expanded</i>, John D. Barrow draws out the deep links between our aesthetic inclinations - our art, our music, our appreciation of form, pattern, and landscape - and the mathematical and physical structure of the Universe of which we form a part. Barrow challenges the commonly held view that our sense of beauty is entirely free and unfettered. He argues that as beings that have evolved in this Universe, we are products of its natural laws and its underlying mathematical forms. Our minds show the imprints of this structure, which constrains and moulds our perceptions and our aesthetic preferences. In this rich and wide-ranging exploration, Barrow looks at the evolution of complexity, form in painting, computer art and music, and how landscapes and the wheeling patterns of stars in the night sky have impinged upon the human psyche. Originally published in 1995, this revised and expanded edition includes new essays on topics including the beauty of vases, the fractal nature of Jackson Pollock's art, life on extrasolar planets, multiverses, and the question of whether we might be living in a simulated universe (and if so, how would we know?). This is a deeply inspiring and erudite work from an author described by Sir Martin Rees as 'emerging as the Stephen Jay Gould of the mathematical sciences'.

About the Author

John Barrow is Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Hailed as "the Stephen Jay Gould of the mathematical sciences" (Sir Martin Rees), he is the author of 15 popular science books, includingPi in the Sky, Theories of Everything, The Origin of the Universe, and The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (with Frank Tipler).