A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael S. Schneider
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  47 reviews
Sales Rank: 8622
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 7.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0060926716
Dewey Decimal Number: 516.001
EAN: 9780060926717
ASIN: 0060926716
Publication Date: November 8, 1995
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Condition: NEW - IT IS NEW - and it is without a remainder mark
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Product Description
The Universe May Be a Mystery,
But It's No SecretMichael Schneider leads us on a spectacular, lavishly illustrated journey along the numbers one through ten to explore the mathematical principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and the human body, expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion, art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and underlie human affairs. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing, the Universe shows you: - Why cans, pizza, and manhole covers are round.
- Why one and two weren't considered numbers by the ancient Greeks.
- Why squares show up so often in goddess art and board games.
- What property makes the spiral the most widespread shape in nature, from embryos and hair curls to hurricanes and galaxies.
- How the human body shares the design of a bean plant and the solar system.
- How a snowflake is like Stonehenge, and a beehive like a calendar.
- How our ten fingers hold the secrets of both a lobster and a cathedral.
- And much more.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 42 more reviews...
 A profound book July 18, 2008
"It is written on the limitless constellations of the celestial heavens, on the depths of the emerald seas and on every grain of sand in the vast desert that the world which we see is an outward and visible dream of an inward and invisible reality." - Sufi saying.
This book is a beautiful re-introduction to the "Sacred Geometry", the study of the simple mathematical patterns that dominate the universe. At the same time this practice both argues for a creator and also one who is unlike the standard "Holy book" picture for his basic engines of creation unfold like a lotus flower into infinity.
Unlike most stuff found in a "New Age" store, this book is not arguing you to believe anything, it shows you and teaches you and lets your own mind do the work. If I ever become a teacher I'll use bits of this book to try to get students to actually think and hopefully enjoy math, arts, the sciences.
Be ready to think! March 5, 2008
Artfully done with many interesting side notes. Easy to read, the book raises many deep questions. Well worth the price!
Abundant resource for insights & illustrations about sacred geometry March 3, 2008
Colleague Michael Schneider (who I had the pleasure of interviewing on community radio/TV a few years ago) wrote this outstanding book that has wonderful little illustrations and photographs showing how geometry and number remind us universal archetypes every where we turn in nature, art and architecture. For over a decade I've recommended this book as a perfect complement to my Sacred Geometry Design Sourcebook which you can also find here on Amazon or on my website at www.GeometryCode.com. If you want a great place to begin exploring sacred geometry (even though he doesn't call it that :-), A Beginner's Guide... and SGDS make a great pair of references.
Sacred Geometry - the Primer January 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First I bought two copies. Sent one to my 90 year old mother who read it cover to cover. Then gave away the other as an emergency gift. Then bought two more. Now I have to buy more because I read my own copy and have three people to whom I would like to give the remaining copy. Let's see, that is 2 + 2 = 4 + 2 or 3 = 6 or 7. Now I know what those numbers "are". This book is precious. It allows one to see the magic and the mystery in common objects and relationships around us. Nicely written. A lot of fun. The whole book is worth the price just for the fantastic quotes in the margins, let alone the chapters. I love this book. I am glad to know more about the radiant essence of my apples, bowls, desks, steering wheel, hands - and everything around me. Thank you Michael Schneider.
presents both practical and mystical aspects of numbers as they relate to nature September 23, 2007
A Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe shows the mathematical underpinnings of nature by explaining how nature makes use of the numbers 1 - 10 and also 12 and 13. For example number six is used by nature in the construction of many things including walls of cells as the six sided hexagon is a very stable geometric object. There is some focus on mystical aspects of math but not too much so that there ends up being a lot of practical knowledge to be found here. The Fibonacci sequence is presented along with the use it is put to by nature. There is a presentation of the golden mean also. I highly recommend this book to those who have had interest in math drilled out of them by the drudgery of unfocused arithmetic and algebra lessons. This book is a peak into the fascinating world of mathematics and should whet your appetite for more. One book to consider after reading this book is "Fascinating Fibonacci's" as it contains more detailed information on the material found in chapter 5 of this book.
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