The artful universe - John D. Barrow

In The Artful Universe Expanded, John D. Barrow draws out the deep links between our aesthetic inclinations - our art, our music, our appreciation of form, pattern, and landscape - and the mathematical and physical structure of the Universe of which we form a part. Barrow challenges the commonly held view that our sense of beauty is entirely free and unfettered. He argues that as beings that have evolved in this Universe, we are products of its natural laws andits underlying mathematical forms. Our minds show the imprints of this structure, which constrains and moulds our perceptions and our aesthetic preferences.In this rich and wide-ranging exploration, Barrow looks at the evolution of complexity, form in painting, computer art and music, and how landscapes and the wheeling patterns of stars in the night sky have impinged upon the human psyche. Originally published in 1995, this revised and expanded edition includes new essays on topics including the beauty of vases, the fractal nature of Jackson Pollock's art, life on extrasolar planets, multiverses, and the question of whether we might be living ina simulated universe (and if so, how would we know?). This is a deeply inspiring and erudite work from an author described by Sir Martin Rees as 'emerging as the Stephen Jay Gould of the mathematical sciences'.