A Search for Structure

A Search for Structure

Author: Cyril Stanley Smith

Publisher: MIT Press (MA)

Published: 1981-01

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 9780262191913

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These fourteen essays celebrate the necessary unity between aesthetic curiosity and scientific and technological discovery. Drawing on his own experience as a metallurgist and his wide-ranging studies of ancient and modern artifacts, Cyril Smith offers an intriguing and generously illustrated exploration of the relationship between material structure and our sense of beauty.


Book Synopsis A Search for Structure by : Cyril Stanley Smith

Download or read book A Search for Structure written by Cyril Stanley Smith and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 1981-01 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These fourteen essays celebrate the necessary unity between aesthetic curiosity and scientific and technological discovery. Drawing on his own experience as a metallurgist and his wide-ranging studies of ancient and modern artifacts, Cyril Smith offers an intriguing and generously illustrated exploration of the relationship between material structure and our sense of beauty.


A Search for Structure

A Search for Structure

Author: Cyril Stanley Smith

Publisher: Mit Press

Published: 1983-01

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9780262690829

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&"As an old admirer of Cyril Smith, I'm delighted to learn that a collection of his essays on the arts will be published. They are a unique body of work which only he could have produced.&" &-Meyer Schapiro Science, art, and history all share common or analogous patterns of hierarchical order that are embedded into the structure of the material world as well. This is a central insight of these essays by a generalist who has also spent a lifetime working in his specialty, the nature of materials. To Cyril Stanley Smith, the transformation of metals from one state to another, or the contrasts at one level that merge through repetition into uniformity at a higher level, carries solid metaphorical implications for the human condition. Cyril Stanley Smith's own expansion of outlook to encompass successively technology, science, history, and art is loosely implicit in the chronological ordering of the fourteen essays included in this volume and explicitly developed in one of them that &"comes as close to an autobiography as I am ever likely to write&" and traces the evolution of Smith's ideas on science and art. Trained as an industrial metallurgist, Smith turned to the purely scientific study of the structure of metals and alloys after his experience at Los Alamos during World War II, drawn in part by his delight in the intrinsic beauty of these structural manifestations of symmetry and natural design. A growing interest in the history of the science and technology of materials led him to consult the artifactual evidence&-the art objects in museums that either greatly predate written historical records or provide, through scientific examination, more reliable information than do the surviving documents of their period. This direct contact with fine or formal art only reinforced Smith's intuition that the aesthetic impulse is at play over the full range of human activity, whether it leads to the making of a bronze sculpture, a scientific theory, or a social reorganization. A variety of investigations of art objects is cited in the text, and the author regards the accompanying illustrations to be as important as the text. In particular, the essays make the case that historically many advances and discoveries regarding metals and ceramics came about through aesthetic curiosity and the desire to improve works of fine and decorative art, rather than through scientific investigation or in response to the need for products having practical utility. Many techniques and even whole industries, Smith writes, began with the making and reproduction of art works. Other essays deal with the emerging understanding of the remarkable properties of steel, the positive uses of corrosion, ancient casting and molding techniques, and the connection between attempts to reproduce oriental porcelain in Europe and modern geological ideas. Still others are more philosophical in approach.


Book Synopsis A Search for Structure by : Cyril Stanley Smith

Download or read book A Search for Structure written by Cyril Stanley Smith and published by Mit Press. This book was released on 1983-01 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: &"As an old admirer of Cyril Smith, I'm delighted to learn that a collection of his essays on the arts will be published. They are a unique body of work which only he could have produced.&" &-Meyer Schapiro Science, art, and history all share common or analogous patterns of hierarchical order that are embedded into the structure of the material world as well. This is a central insight of these essays by a generalist who has also spent a lifetime working in his specialty, the nature of materials. To Cyril Stanley Smith, the transformation of metals from one state to another, or the contrasts at one level that merge through repetition into uniformity at a higher level, carries solid metaphorical implications for the human condition. Cyril Stanley Smith's own expansion of outlook to encompass successively technology, science, history, and art is loosely implicit in the chronological ordering of the fourteen essays included in this volume and explicitly developed in one of them that &"comes as close to an autobiography as I am ever likely to write&" and traces the evolution of Smith's ideas on science and art. Trained as an industrial metallurgist, Smith turned to the purely scientific study of the structure of metals and alloys after his experience at Los Alamos during World War II, drawn in part by his delight in the intrinsic beauty of these structural manifestations of symmetry and natural design. A growing interest in the history of the science and technology of materials led him to consult the artifactual evidence&-the art objects in museums that either greatly predate written historical records or provide, through scientific examination, more reliable information than do the surviving documents of their period. This direct contact with fine or formal art only reinforced Smith's intuition that the aesthetic impulse is at play over the full range of human activity, whether it leads to the making of a bronze sculpture, a scientific theory, or a social reorganization. A variety of investigations of art objects is cited in the text, and the author regards the accompanying illustrations to be as important as the text. In particular, the essays make the case that historically many advances and discoveries regarding metals and ceramics came about through aesthetic curiosity and the desire to improve works of fine and decorative art, rather than through scientific investigation or in response to the need for products having practical utility. Many techniques and even whole industries, Smith writes, began with the making and reproduction of art works. Other essays deal with the emerging understanding of the remarkable properties of steel, the positive uses of corrosion, ancient casting and molding techniques, and the connection between attempts to reproduce oriental porcelain in Europe and modern geological ideas. Still others are more philosophical in approach.


COBE's Search for Structure in the Big Bang

COBE's Search for Structure in the Big Bang

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis COBE's Search for Structure in the Big Bang by :

Download or read book COBE's Search for Structure in the Big Bang written by and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Structure of the Universe

The Structure of the Universe

Author: Paul Halpern

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2014-09-16

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1466881682

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The Structure of the Universe by Paul Halpern, Ph.D., originally published in 1996, is a tour of the knowledge of the deep reaches of space and predictions for its future. Technological marvels such as the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing a wealth of information about the deepest reaches of space. After decades of research, scientists now believe they are closer to discovering the 'missing matter,' the invisible stuff left over from the Big Bang that will determine the ultimate fate of the universe. With each discovery new light is shed on scores of old questions, and at the same time new questions arise.


Book Synopsis The Structure of the Universe by : Paul Halpern

Download or read book The Structure of the Universe written by Paul Halpern and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Structure of the Universe by Paul Halpern, Ph.D., originally published in 1996, is a tour of the knowledge of the deep reaches of space and predictions for its future. Technological marvels such as the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing a wealth of information about the deepest reaches of space. After decades of research, scientists now believe they are closer to discovering the 'missing matter,' the invisible stuff left over from the Big Bang that will determine the ultimate fate of the universe. With each discovery new light is shed on scores of old questions, and at the same time new questions arise.


The Structure of Scientific Inference

The Structure of Scientific Inference

Author: Mary Hesse

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2022-05-13

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0520359879

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This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.


Book Synopsis The Structure of Scientific Inference by : Mary Hesse

Download or read book The Structure of Scientific Inference written by Mary Hesse and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-05-13 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.


Calamities

Calamities

Author: Renee Gladman

Publisher: Wave Books

Published: 2020-07-28

Total Pages: 79

ISBN-13: 1950268284

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WINNER of the 2017 Firecracker Award for Nonfiction from CLMP A collection of linked essays concerned with the life and mind of the writer by one of the most original voices in contemporary literature. Each essay takes a day as its point of inquiry, observing the body as it moves through time, architecture, and space, gradually demanding a new logic and level of consciousness from the narrator and reader.


Book Synopsis Calamities by : Renee Gladman

Download or read book Calamities written by Renee Gladman and published by Wave Books. This book was released on 2020-07-28 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER of the 2017 Firecracker Award for Nonfiction from CLMP A collection of linked essays concerned with the life and mind of the writer by one of the most original voices in contemporary literature. Each essay takes a day as its point of inquiry, observing the body as it moves through time, architecture, and space, gradually demanding a new logic and level of consciousness from the narrator and reader.


The Split and the Structure

The Split and the Structure

Author: Rudolf Arnheim

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-11-10

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 0520917642

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Rudolf Arnheim's great forte is his ability to illuminate the perceptual processes that go into the making and reception of artworks—painting, sculpture, architecture, and film. Over the years, his pioneering mode of "reading" art from a unique scientific/philosophic perspective has garnered him an established and devoted audience. That audience will take pleasure in Arnheim's most recent collection of essays, one that covers a range of topics and includes titles such as "Outer Space and Inner Space," "What Is an Aesthetic Fact?," "As I Saw Children's Art," "Two Ways of Being Human," "Consciousness—an Island of Images," and "From Chaos to Wholeness." The notion of structure is Arnheim's guide in these explorations. Most of the essays examine the nature of structure affirmatively: how it comes about, its incentives and objectives, its celebration of perfection. He is interested in how artists grope for structure to shape powerful, enlightening images, and how a scientist's search for truth is a search for structure. Writing with enviable clarity, even when deploying complex arguments, Arnheim makes it easy and exciting to follow him as he thinks. America is not abundantly supplied with "public intellectuals" such as Rudolf Arnheim—to have his writings with us is cause for celebration. "The word 'structure' appears for good reason in the title of this collection. . . . Structure seems to be needed as an arbiter wherever this civilization of ours is split by selfish interests and fighting for either/or decisions. The essays want to speak with the voice of reason, because they want to show how the parts require the whole."


Book Synopsis The Split and the Structure by : Rudolf Arnheim

Download or read book The Split and the Structure written by Rudolf Arnheim and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Arnheim's great forte is his ability to illuminate the perceptual processes that go into the making and reception of artworks—painting, sculpture, architecture, and film. Over the years, his pioneering mode of "reading" art from a unique scientific/philosophic perspective has garnered him an established and devoted audience. That audience will take pleasure in Arnheim's most recent collection of essays, one that covers a range of topics and includes titles such as "Outer Space and Inner Space," "What Is an Aesthetic Fact?," "As I Saw Children's Art," "Two Ways of Being Human," "Consciousness—an Island of Images," and "From Chaos to Wholeness." The notion of structure is Arnheim's guide in these explorations. Most of the essays examine the nature of structure affirmatively: how it comes about, its incentives and objectives, its celebration of perfection. He is interested in how artists grope for structure to shape powerful, enlightening images, and how a scientist's search for truth is a search for structure. Writing with enviable clarity, even when deploying complex arguments, Arnheim makes it easy and exciting to follow him as he thinks. America is not abundantly supplied with "public intellectuals" such as Rudolf Arnheim—to have his writings with us is cause for celebration. "The word 'structure' appears for good reason in the title of this collection. . . . Structure seems to be needed as an arbiter wherever this civilization of ours is split by selfish interests and fighting for either/or decisions. The essays want to speak with the voice of reason, because they want to show how the parts require the whole."


Structure As Architecture

Structure As Architecture

Author: Andrew Charleson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-08-11

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1136361391

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Structure As Architecture provides readers with an accessible insight into the relationship between structure and architecture, focusing on the design principles that relate to both fields. Over one hundred case studies of contemporary buildings from countries across the globe including the UK, the US, France, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong and Australia are interspersed throughout the book. The author has visited and photographed each of these examples and analyzed them to show how structure plays a significant architectural role, as well as bearing loads. This is a highly illustrated sourcebook, providing a new insight into the role of structure, and discussing the point where the technical and the aesthetic meet to create the discipline of ‘architecture’.


Book Synopsis Structure As Architecture by : Andrew Charleson

Download or read book Structure As Architecture written by Andrew Charleson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-08-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Structure As Architecture provides readers with an accessible insight into the relationship between structure and architecture, focusing on the design principles that relate to both fields. Over one hundred case studies of contemporary buildings from countries across the globe including the UK, the US, France, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong and Australia are interspersed throughout the book. The author has visited and photographed each of these examples and analyzed them to show how structure plays a significant architectural role, as well as bearing loads. This is a highly illustrated sourcebook, providing a new insight into the role of structure, and discussing the point where the technical and the aesthetic meet to create the discipline of ‘architecture’.


The Structure of Objects

The Structure of Objects

Author: Kathrin Koslicki

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2008-04-17

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0191609137

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Kathrin Koslicki offers an analysis of ordinary materials objects, those material objects to which we take ourselves to be committed in ordinary, scientifically informed discourse. She focuses particularly on the question of how the parts of such objects are related to the wholes which they compose. Many philosophers today find themselves in the grip of an exceedingly deflationary conception of what it means to be an object. According to this conception, any plurality of objects, no matter how disparate or gerrymandered, itself composes an object, even if the objects in question fail to exhibit interesting similarities, internal unity, cohesion, or causl interaction amongst each other. This commitment to initially counterintuitive objects follows from the belief that no principled set of criteria is available by means of which to distinguish intuitively gerrymandered objects from commonsensical ones; the project of this book is to persuade the reader that systematic principles can be found by means of which composition can be restricted, and hence that we need not embrace this deflationary approach to the question of what it means to be an object. To this end, a more full-blooded neo-Aristotelian account of parthood and composition is developed according to which objects are structured wholes: it is integral to the existence and identity of an object, on this conception, that its parts exhibit a certain manner of arrangement. This structure-based conception of parthood and composition is explored in detail, along with some of its historical precursors as well as some of its contemporary competitors.


Book Synopsis The Structure of Objects by : Kathrin Koslicki

Download or read book The Structure of Objects written by Kathrin Koslicki and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-04-17 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kathrin Koslicki offers an analysis of ordinary materials objects, those material objects to which we take ourselves to be committed in ordinary, scientifically informed discourse. She focuses particularly on the question of how the parts of such objects are related to the wholes which they compose. Many philosophers today find themselves in the grip of an exceedingly deflationary conception of what it means to be an object. According to this conception, any plurality of objects, no matter how disparate or gerrymandered, itself composes an object, even if the objects in question fail to exhibit interesting similarities, internal unity, cohesion, or causl interaction amongst each other. This commitment to initially counterintuitive objects follows from the belief that no principled set of criteria is available by means of which to distinguish intuitively gerrymandered objects from commonsensical ones; the project of this book is to persuade the reader that systematic principles can be found by means of which composition can be restricted, and hence that we need not embrace this deflationary approach to the question of what it means to be an object. To this end, a more full-blooded neo-Aristotelian account of parthood and composition is developed according to which objects are structured wholes: it is integral to the existence and identity of an object, on this conception, that its parts exhibit a certain manner of arrangement. This structure-based conception of parthood and composition is explored in detail, along with some of its historical precursors as well as some of its contemporary competitors.


Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design

Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design

Author: Peter Pearce

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780262660457

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"The structural designs that occur in nature - in molecules, in crystals, in living cells - appear in this fully illustrated book as a source of inspiration and study of design of man-made structures" -- BOOK JACKET.


Book Synopsis Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design by : Peter Pearce

Download or read book Structure in Nature Is a Strategy for Design written by Peter Pearce and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The structural designs that occur in nature - in molecules, in crystals, in living cells - appear in this fully illustrated book as a source of inspiration and study of design of man-made structures" -- BOOK JACKET.