Blueprints : how mathematics shapes creativity /

"When Shakespeare has the Three Witches cast Macbeth's lot, he uses something very weird to do it: not simply "eye of newt and toe of frog," but the number seven. And when Hamlet claims, "To be or not to be, that is the question," Shakespeare reaches for eleven. For Sha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Du Sautoy, Marcus (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Basic Books, 2025.
Edition:First US Edition.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:"When Shakespeare has the Three Witches cast Macbeth's lot, he uses something very weird to do it: not simply "eye of newt and toe of frog," but the number seven. And when Hamlet claims, "To be or not to be, that is the question," Shakespeare reaches for eleven. For Shakespeare, prime numbers were magical. And he is not alone. As Marcus du Sautoy showcases in Blueprints, creativity is inseparable from mathematics. The designs of Le Corbusier and Leonardo; the music of Glass, Bach, and Debussy; the wild visions of Dali, the choreography of Laban, the animation of Pixar--all are shot through with mathematics, from primes and fractals to the weirder worlds of Hamiltonian cycles and hyperbolic geometry. And Du Sautoy argues that the relationship runs both ways. Just as mathematics inspires new art, the artistic mindset is a necessity for discovering new mathematics."--
Physical Description:x, 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781541605695
1541605691
9781541605701
1541605705