Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature & Art

Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature & Art PDF Author: Robert Tubbs
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM
ISBN: 1421414023
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
The author of What Is a Number? examines the relationship between mathematics and art and literature of the 20th century. During the twentieth century, many artists and writers turned to abstract mathematical ideas to help them realize their aesthetic ambitions. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and, perhaps most famously, Piet Mondrian used principles of mathematics in their work. Was it coincidence, or were these artists following their instincts, which were ruled by mathematical underpinnings, such as optimal solutions for filling a space? If math exists within visual art, can it be found within literary pursuits? In short, just what is the relationship between mathematics and the creative arts? In this exploration of mathematical ideas in art and literature, Robert Tubbs argues that the links are much stronger than previously imagined and exceed both coincidence and commonality of purpose. Not only does he argue that mathematical ideas guided the aesthetic visions of many twentieth-century artists and writers, Tubbs further asserts that artists and writers used math in their creative processes even though they seemed to have no affinity for mathematical thinking. In the end, Tubbs makes the case that art can be better appreciated when the math that inspired it is better understood. An insightful tour of the great masters of the last century and an argument that challenges long-held paradigms, this book will appeal to mathematicians, humanists, and artists, as well as instructors teaching the connections among math, literature, and art. “Though the content of Tubbs’s book is challenging, it is also accessible and should interest many on both sides of the perceived divide between mathematics and the arts.” —Choice

Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature & Art

Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature & Art PDF Author: Robert Tubbs
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM
ISBN: 1421414023
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
The author of What Is a Number? examines the relationship between mathematics and art and literature of the 20th century. During the twentieth century, many artists and writers turned to abstract mathematical ideas to help them realize their aesthetic ambitions. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and, perhaps most famously, Piet Mondrian used principles of mathematics in their work. Was it coincidence, or were these artists following their instincts, which were ruled by mathematical underpinnings, such as optimal solutions for filling a space? If math exists within visual art, can it be found within literary pursuits? In short, just what is the relationship between mathematics and the creative arts? In this exploration of mathematical ideas in art and literature, Robert Tubbs argues that the links are much stronger than previously imagined and exceed both coincidence and commonality of purpose. Not only does he argue that mathematical ideas guided the aesthetic visions of many twentieth-century artists and writers, Tubbs further asserts that artists and writers used math in their creative processes even though they seemed to have no affinity for mathematical thinking. In the end, Tubbs makes the case that art can be better appreciated when the math that inspired it is better understood. An insightful tour of the great masters of the last century and an argument that challenges long-held paradigms, this book will appeal to mathematicians, humanists, and artists, as well as instructors teaching the connections among math, literature, and art. “Though the content of Tubbs’s book is challenging, it is also accessible and should interest many on both sides of the perceived divide between mathematics and the arts.” —Choice

The Artist and the Mathematician

The Artist and the Mathematician PDF Author: Amir D Aczel
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786732881
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Nicolas Bourbaki, whose mathematical publications began to appear in the late 1930s and continued to be published through most of the twentieth century, was a direct product as well as a major force behind an important revolution that took place in the early decades of the twentieth century that completely changed Western culture. Pure mathematics, the area of Bourbaki's work, seems on the surface to be an abstract field of human study with no direct connection with the real world. In reality, however, it is closely intertwined with the general culture that surrounds it. Major developments in mathematics have often followed important trends in popular culture; developments in mathematics have acted as harbingers of change in the surrounding human culture. The seeds of change, the beginnings of the revolution that swept the Western world in the early decades of the twentieth century -- both in mathematics and in other areas -- were sown late in the previous century. This is the story both of Bourbaki and the world that created him in that time. It is the story of an elaborate intellectual joke -- because Bourbaki, one of the foremost mathematicians of his day -- never existed.

Mathematics and Art

Mathematics and Art PDF Author: Lynn Gamwell
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691165289
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description
This is a cultural history of mathematics and art, from antiquity to the present. Mathematicians and artists have long been on a quest to understand the physical world they see before them and the abstract objects they know by thought alone. Taking readers on a tour of the practice of mathematics and the philosophical ideas that drive the discipline, Lynn Gamwell points out the important ways mathematical concepts have been expressed by artists. Sumptuous illustrations of artworks and cogent math diagrams are featured in Gamwell's comprehensive exploration. Gamwell begins by describing mathematics from antiquity to the Enlightenment, including Greek, Islamic, and Asian mathematics. Then focusing on modern culture, Gamwell traces mathematicians' search for the foundations of their science, such as David Hilbert's conception of mathematics as an arrangement of meaning-free signs, as well as artists' search for the essence of their craft, such as Aleksandr Rodchenko's monochrome paintings. She shows that self-reflection is inherent to the practice of both modern mathematics and art, and that this introspection points to a deep resonance between the two fields: Kurt Gödel posed questions about the nature of mathematics in the language of mathematics and Jasper Johns asked "What is art?" in the vocabulary of art. Throughout, Gamwell describes the personalities and cultural environments of a multitude of mathematicians and artists, from Gottlob Frege and Benoît Mandelbrot to Max Bill and Xu Bing. Mathematics and Art demonstrates how mathematical ideas are embodied in the visual arts and will enlighten all who are interested in the complex intellectual pursuits, personalities, and cultural settings that connect these vast disciplines.

Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature and Art

Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature and Art PDF Author: Robert Tubbs
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421413795
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
Chips away at the notion of an accidental relationship between math and art and literature. During the twentieth century, many artists and writers turned to abstract mathematical ideas to help them realize their aesthetic ambitions. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and, perhaps most famously, Piet Mondrian used principles of mathematics in their work. Was it mere coincidence, or were these artists simply following their instincts, which in turn were ruled by mathematical underpinnings, such as optimal solutions for filling a space? If math exists within visual art, can it be found within literary pursuits? In short, just what is the relationship between mathematics and the creative arts? In this provocative, original exploration of mathematical ideas in art and literature, Robert Tubbs argues that the links are much stronger than previously imagined and exceed both coincidence and commonality of purpose. Not only does he argue that mathematical ideas guided the aesthetic visions of many twentieth-century artists and writers, Tubbs further asserts that artists and writers used math in their creative processes even though they seemed to have no affinity for mathematical thinking. In the end, Tubbs makes the case that art can be better appreciated when the math that inspired it is better understood. An insightful tour of the great masters of the last century and an argument that challenges long-held paradigms, Mathematics in Twentieth-Century Literature and Art will appeal to mathematicians, humanists, and artists, as well as instructors teaching the connections among math, literature, and art.

Mathematics in Postmodern American Fiction

Mathematics in Postmodern American Fiction PDF Author: Stuart J. Taylor
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031486714
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description


The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way

The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way PDF Author: Charles Bukowski
Publisher: City Lights Books
ISBN: 087286782X
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
“Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way, or even to say a simple thing in a simpler way.”—Charles Bukowski In The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way, Charles Bukowski considers the art of writing, and the art of living as a writer. Bringing together a variety of previously uncollected stories, columns, reviews, introductions, and interviews, this book finds him approaching the dynamics of his chosen profession with cynical aplomb, deflating pretensions and tearing down idols armed with only a typewriter and a bottle of beer. Beginning with the title piece—a serious manifesto disguised as off-handed remarks en route to the racetrack—The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way runs through numerous tales following the author’s adventures at poetry readings, parties, film sets, and bars, and also features an unprecedented gathering of Bukowski’s singular literary criticism. From classic authors like Hemingway to underground legends like d.a. levy to his own stable of obscure favorites, Bukowski uses each occasion to expound on the larger issues around literary production. The book closes with a handful of interviews in which he discusses his writing practices and his influences, making this a perfect guide to the man behind the myth and the disciplined artist behind the boozing brawler. Born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) is the author of over forty-five books of poetry and prose. David Stephen Calonne has written several books and edited four previous volumes of uncollected Bukowski for City Lights.

The Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Mathematics

The Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Mathematics PDF Author: Robert Tubbs
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030554783
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 628

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Book Description
This handbook features essays written by both literary scholars and mathematicians that examine multiple facets of the connections between literature and mathematics. These connections range from mathematics and poetic meter to mathematics and modernism to mathematics as literature. Some chapters focus on a single author, such as mathematics and Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, or Charles Dickens, while others consider a mathematical topic common to two or more authors, such as squaring the circle, chaos theory, Newton’s calculus, or stochastic processes. With appeal for scholars and students in literature, mathematics, cultural history, and history of mathematics, this important volume aims to introduce the range, fertility, and complexity of the connections between mathematics, literature, and literary theory. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via [link.springer.com|http://link.springer.com/].

Twentieth-Century Poetry and the Visual Arts

Twentieth-Century Poetry and the Visual Arts PDF Author: Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052188795X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An extended treatment of the complex, changing relationship between poetry and the visual arts.

A History of Algebraic and Differential Topology, 1900 - 1960

A History of Algebraic and Differential Topology, 1900 - 1960 PDF Author: Jean Dieudonné
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817649077
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 666

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Book Description
This book is a well-informed and detailed analysis of the problems and development of algebraic topology, from Poincaré and Brouwer to Serre, Adams, and Thom. The author has examined each significant paper along this route and describes the steps and strategy of its proofs and its relation to other work. Previously, the history of the many technical developments of 20th-century mathematics had seemed to present insuperable obstacles to scholarship. This book demonstrates in the case of topology how these obstacles can be overcome, with enlightening results.... Within its chosen boundaries the coverage of this book is superb. Read it! —MathSciNet

Being Modern

Being Modern PDF Author: Robert Bud
Publisher: UCL Press
ISBN: 1787353931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
In the early decades of the twentieth century, engagement with science was commonly used as an emblem of modernity. This phenomenon is now attracting increasing attention in different historical specialties. Being Modern builds on this recent scholarly interest to explore engagement with science across culture from the end of the nineteenth century to approximately 1940. Addressing the breadth of cultural forms in Britain and the western world from the architecture of Le Corbusier to working class British science fiction, Being Modern paints a rich picture. Seventeen distinguished contributors from a range of fields including the cultural study of science and technology, art and architecture, English culture and literature examine the issues involved. The book will be a valuable resource for students, and a spur to scholars to further examination of culture as an interconnected web of which science is a critical part, and to supersede such tired formulations as 'Science and culture'.