Overview

Beauty is one of those rare concepts that spans virtually every domain of human knowledge and is present in every culture. Most authors who address this topic tend to adopt a single perspective - that of their own discipline - and use the methodology and conceptual vocabulary that is standard in their field. This book takes a different approach, and looks at beauty from the standpoint of both the sciences and the humanities. In doing so, it uses insights from mathematics, physics, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and theology to examine the origins of our aesthetic drive , and establish why beauty is so important to us. One of the main themes in this book is the notion of complexity, which transcends disciplinary boundaries and helps explain why certain natural forms and works of art continue to attract us even though we have seen them many times before. The fact that this concept can be meaningfully examined in the context of fractal geometry, information theory, psychology and art suggests that beauty has many different aspects, and has the potential to connect seemingly unrelated areas of human inquiry.

Full Product Details

9781987653045

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Dr. Aleksandar Zecevic is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at Santa Clara University. His technical research interests include the control of complex systems, graph theoretic decomposition algorithms, electric power systems and nonlinear dynamics. Some of his most important results in these fields are summarized in his book: Control of Complex Systems: Structural Constraints and Uncertainty. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Zecevic has also done a considerable amount of work in the area of science and religion. His two books: Truth, Beauty and the Limits of Knowledge: A Path from Science to Religion and The Unknowable and the Counterintuitive: The Surprising Insights of Modern Science, are devoted to this topic. His most recent project is a trilogy on interdisciplinary aesthetics: The Beauty of Nature and the Nature of Beauty, Ten Dialogues about Art and Beauty and The Many Faces of Complexity: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Beauty. Each of these books provides a different perspective on beauty, and the role that it plays in the sciences, the humanities and the arts.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available