The Art Of More

Download or read book The Art of More written by Michael Brooks and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illuminating, millennia-spanning history of the impact mathematics has had on the world, and the fascinating people who have mastered its inherent power Counting is not innate to our nature, and without education humans can rarely count past three — beyond that, it’s just “more.” But once harnessed by our ancestors, the power of numbers allowed humanity to flourish in ways that continue to lead to discoveries and enrich our lives today. Ancient tax collectors used basic numeracy to fuel the growth of early civilization, navigators used clever geometrical tricks to engage in trade and connect people across vast distances, astronomers used logarithms to unlock the secrets of the heavens, and their descendants put them to use to land us on the moon. In every case, mathematics has proved to be a greatly underappreciated engine of human progress. In this captivating, sweeping history, Michael Brooks acts as our guide through the ages. He makes the case that mathematics was one of the foundational innovations that catapulted humanity from a nomadic existence to civilization, and that it has since then been instrumental in every great leap of humankind. Here are ancient Egyptian priests, Babylonian bureaucrats, medieval architects, dueling Swiss brothers, renaissance painters, and an eccentric professor who invented the infrastructure of the online world. Their stories clearly demonstrate that the invention of mathematics was every bit as important to the human species as was the discovery of fire. From first page to last, The Art of More brings mathematics back into the heart of what it means to be human.

Download or read book The Art of More written by Michael Brooks and published by Scribe Publications. This book was released on 2021-08-31 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling science writer Michael Brooks takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of civilisation, as he explains why maths is fundamental to our understanding of the world. 1, 2, 3 … ? The human brain isn’t wired for maths; beyond the number 3, it just sees ‘more’. So why bother learning it at all? You might remember studying geometry, calculus, and algebra at school, but you probably didn’t realise — or weren’t taught — that these are the roots of art, architecture, government, and almost every other aspect of our civilisation. The mathematics of triangles enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens. Calculus won the Allies the Second World War and halted the HIV epidemic. And the mysterious Pi is one of the essential building blocks of the 21st century. From ancient Egyptian priests to the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to the MIT professor who invented juggling robots, join Michael Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of characters in discovering how maths shaped the world.

Download or read book The Art of Looking written by Lance Esplund and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-11-27 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A veteran art critic helps us make sense of modern and contemporary art The landscape of contemporary art has changed dramatically during the last hundred years: from Malevich's 1915 painting of a single black square and Duchamp's 1917 signed porcelain urinal to Jackson Pollock's midcentury "drip" paintings; Chris Burden's "Shoot" (1971), in which the artist was voluntarily shot in the arm with a rifle; Urs Fischer's "You" (2007), a giant hole dug in the floor of a New York gallery; and the conceptual and performance art of today's Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramovic. The shifts have left the art-viewing public (understandably) perplexed. In The Art of Looking, renowned art critic Lance Esplund demonstrates that works of modern and contemporary art are not as indecipherable as they might seem. With patience, insight, and wit, Esplund guides us through the last century of art and empowers us to approach and appreciate it with new eyes. Eager to democratize genres that can feel inaccessible, Esplund encourages viewers to trust their own taste, guts, and common sense. The Art of Looking will open the eyes of viewers who think that recent art is obtuse, nonsensical, and irrelevant, as well as the eyes of those who believe that the art of the past has nothing to say to our present.

Download or read book The Art of Aardman written by and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: See the iconic, energetic art of Aardman Animations like never before! The Art of Aardman takes readers on an unforgettable, behind-the-scenes journey through the studio's archives. This collection features original character sketches and never-before-seen concept art, offering a unique look inside the studio that created Chicken Run, Morph, and, of course, Wallace & Gromit. Kicking things off with forewords from founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton, this celebration of all-things Aardman is a must-have for all animation fans.

Download or read book The Art of Insight written by Charles Kiefer and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2013-04-08 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to fostering innovative insights and solutions for yourself and your organization—including online skill-building exercises. We have all experienced it: the jolt of an insight arriving like a thunderclap, unexpectedly and without warning. But what if insights could be accessed more reliably? Drawing on years of research, reflection, and experiences with colleagues, friends, and clients, Charles Kiefer and Malcolm Constable present a thorough, pragmatic approach for dependably generating fresh thoughts and perspectives. The Art of Insight features helpful exercises both in the book and online. Readers will develop their own personal approach to cultivating insights, allowing them to solve long-standing problems with confidence and ease. “Creating insights isn't a magical process—this book provides a practical framework for generating insights for yourself and your organization. We've used many of these techniques with our innovation teams and they work.” —Wayne Delker, Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President, The Clorox Company

Download or read book Playing with Books written by Jason Thompson and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to repurposing used books and pages into unique, accessible art projects—the perfect gift for artists, crafters and book lovers. In these pages, Jason Thompson has curated an extensive and artistic range of both achievable upcycled crafts made from books and book pages and an amazing gallery that contains thought-provoking and beautiful works that transform books into art. The content encompasses a wide range of techniques and step-by-step projects that deconstruct and rebuild books and their parts into unique, recycled objects. The book combines in equal measure bookbinding, woodworking, paper crafting, origami, and textile and decorative arts techniques, along with a healthy dose of experimentation and fun. The beautiful high-end presentation and stunning photography make this book a delightful, must-have volume for any book-loving artist or art-loving book collector.

Download or read book The Zen Art Book written by Stephen Addiss and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When a Zen master puts brush to paper, the resulting image is an expression of the quality of his or her mind. It is thus a teaching, intended to compassionately stop us in our tracks and to compel us to consider ultimate truth. Here, forty masterpieces of painting and calligraphy by renowned masters such as Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) and Gibon Sengai (1750–1837) are reproduced along with commentary that illuminates both the art and its teaching. The authors’ essays provide an excellent introduction to both the aesthetic and didactic aspects of this art that can be profound, perplexing, serious, humorous, and breathtakingly beautiful—often all within the same simple piece."--Publisher description.