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Product Description
Product Description
Engaging introduction to that curious feature of mathematics which provides framework for so many structures in biology, chemistry, and the arts. Discussion ranges from theories of biological growth to intervals and tones in music, Pythagorean numerology, conic sections, Pascal s triangle, the Fibonnacci series and much more.
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First Sentence
Before launching out on our main topic, beauty in mathematics, it will be worth while to convince ourselves that the effort required to learn to appreciate aesthetic values is justified by the pleasure it offers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Before launching out on our main topic, beauty in mathematics, it will be worth while to convince ourselves that the effort required to learn to appreciate aesthetic values is justified by the pleasure it offers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought Ghyka's book first, wanting to learn more about the divine proportion/golden section/phi, and was given a good insight into it's role in much of art history and related topics. This book makes a more focussed study of the golden section, all the while discussing the nature of beauty in mathematics. The author suggests that we have two capacities for beauty - one is inborn and the other, acquired (with education). This book offers some of that education - it's up to the reader's grasp of mathematics (mainly in algebra and geometry) as to whether the book will be of use. I have only studied maths at GCSE standard and I found most of the book to be clear enough. Readers of limited mathematical ability who are determined to understand the book in its fullest will surely, with a few google searches, find out the meanings of the very few algebraic tools used in the book - like I did.
The author does a great job with the written side - which has about a 40/60 balance with the maths. He always considers those readers with a modest ability in mathematics and uses examples of poetry now and then to further explain his discussion. Another reason why this book complements Ghyka's is that Huntley gives no examples of phi at work in art, bar the Pantheon, and instead directs his equations to poetry and music, whereas Ghyka heavily illustrates the role of phi in painting and architecture. Huntley makes a better, more in-depth investigation of how phi manifests itself in most, if not all, corners of geometry and even leaves hints for the reader to make further explorations into the drawings in the book. His passion for the subject is evident from every passage and even half way through reading it I felt I'd unlocked a world of further possible experimentation with the golden section.
I also noticed that the book itself is more or less shaped by golden proportions, and the headings of the chapter pages appear to have been typeset with phi in mind - nice touch.
The author does a great job with the written side - which has about a 40/60 balance with the maths. He always considers those readers with a modest ability in mathematics and uses examples of poetry now and then to further explain his discussion. Another reason why this book complements Ghyka's is that Huntley gives no examples of phi at work in art, bar the Pantheon, and instead directs his equations to poetry and music, whereas Ghyka heavily illustrates the role of phi in painting and architecture. Huntley makes a better, more in-depth investigation of how phi manifests itself in most, if not all, corners of geometry and even leaves hints for the reader to make further explorations into the drawings in the book. His passion for the subject is evident from every passage and even half way through reading it I felt I'd unlocked a world of further possible experimentation with the golden section.
I also noticed that the book itself is more or less shaped by golden proportions, and the headings of the chapter pages appear to have been typeset with phi in mind - nice touch.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Very fun book, despite a few far-fetches
15 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
Can one write a whole book about a number? Well this book is basically about the golden ratio ( [1 + sqrt(5)]/2 = 1.618...]), usually represented by the greek letter "phi" (and I'll refer to this number here as phi). The book gives tons of examples where phi shows up, and it does amazingly show up in places where one might never expect it. But the book isn't just a pile of examples. As the title implies, it is also about math and aesthetics. There are some interesting historical notes and art/aesthetics commentaries from the author. Huntley proposes (and I might be oversimplifying a bit here) that phi is a universal number of beauty, since it manifests itself in many aesthetically pleasing things, from patterns in nature to famous artwork and architechture. He also points out lots of purely mathematical curiosities of phi (like the connection between it and the fibonacci sequence, continued fractions, etc.)
My only complaints is that there are a few connections that seem far-fetched. Again, the book _is_ filled with plenty of amazing examples where phi shows up, including many places where one might least expect it. But really, not every sighting of "1.6" calls for a cry of "eurika"! (And oddly enought, at some point the author criticizes the ancient Greeks for once acting like that!) The section on music had some flaws and really far-fetched claims, which is too bad, since I've always loved researching the math/music connection.
But over all, the book does leave me wondering why Pi should get all the fame.
50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Solid intro to the golden rectangle
4 April 2000
Format:Paperback
This book is perfect if you enjoyed the movie Pi and want to learn more, or if you are researching connections between math and religion, art, quality (per R. Pirsig), or aesthetics. One downer is that Huntley tries, and fails, to explain how math can be beautiful just like poetry can be beautiful. I personally think that you either dig math or you don't. Huntley should assume that anyone reading his/her book is at least interested and therefore skip the "math can be pretty too" lesson. Beyond that, though, the book is a thorough introduction to phi and the golden ratio. Huntley more than makes up for his mentioned faults by providing numerous equations, proofs, plots, and diagrams. The math level is pre-calculus with emphasis on geometry. I recommend reading this with plenty of scratch paper handy so that you can work along with the text and prove to yourself how deep this rabbit hole goes.
111 of 122 people found the following review helpful
Mathematical error and misleading conclusion on page 99.
15 Aug 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For the most part an excellent, easy to follow work. However, on page 99 (item #3, bottom of page) the author states the incorrect equality: 2(phi+1+1/phi)=4, for the surface area of the golden cuboid. Correctly, the surface area of the given cuboid should be equal to approximately 6.472. This error could be overlooked except for the fact that the author extrapolates on this incorrect result (next page, item #4) and hints at a connection between pi and phi. The author uses his incorrect constant of proportionality, namely "4", which appears in the figuring of the surface area of the circumscribing sphere and the cuboid, as evidence of this "connection". Thus, in the guise of some illusive geometric "hint", leaving the reader with the idea that a tie between these two constants may exist in this geometric figure. The significance of this error cannot be overlooked.
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