100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Maths And The Arts: Volume 3: Arts

Description

Eminent cosmologist Professor John D. Barrow uses simple mathematics to explain one hundred of life's most perplexing questions. What can maths tell us about art? Professor John Barrow sheds light on the mysteries of the world of the arts. At the very heart, he tells us, mathematics and the arts are not so far removed. He takes us on a tour of the world of the arts through 100 steps, guiding us through art forms as various as sculpture, literature, architecture and dance, and revealing what maths can tell us about them. Find out: * Why diamonds sparkle* How many words Shakespeare knew* Why the shower is the best place to sing* Why an egg is egg-shapped* How to shatter a wine glass with your singing voice* Why Charles Dickens led a crusade against maths Enlivening the everyday with a new way of looking at the world, this book will enrich your understanding of the maths and the arts that we are surrounded by in our day-to-day lives.

Reviews

- "It would be hard to imagine an easier, friendlier, more entertaining introduction to maths... there are even belly laughs." --"Daily Telegraph"

Author description

JOHN D. BARROW is Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University, Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the current Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London. His principal area of scientific research is cosmology, and he is the author of many highly acclaimed books about the nature and significance of modern developments in physics, astronomy, and mathematics, including "The Origin of the Universe, The Universe that Discovered Itself; The Book of Nothing, The Constants of Nature, The Infinite Book: a Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless""and""Endless, The Artful Universe Expanded, New Theories of Everything, Cosmic Imagery" and "The Book of Universes."