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Idolatry and Infinity: Of Art, Math, and God by David R Topper (Paperback, 2014)

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Some unwritten stories only exist in fragments. In this book, for the first time, the histories of the injunction against idolatry and the dread of infinity are uniquely woven into one. The spectre of idolatry has haunted the three Western religions since the biblical prohibition. The story of iconoclasm runs from ancient times, where Jews largely ignored the ban on images, through the iconoclastic episodes in Islam and Christianity, and into modern times during the French Revolution. A perhaps surprising thesis of this book is that a conceptual and secular form of iconoclasm continued as the revulsion of illusionism in Modern Art. More recently it flared-up in the dynamiting of two large statues of the Buddha by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. The phobia of infinity arose from Pythagoras's discovery of irrational numbers and it runs through Zeno's paradoxes and Aristotle's philosophy, with only rare cases of defiance, such as Archimedes searching for pi. The angst over infinity continued through the Middle Ages with the theological encounter of an infinite God, as in the writings of Thomas Aquinas, only to be confronted in the Renaissance philosophy of Cusa. At the same time, infinity arose unexpectedly in visual art with the discovery of linear perspective where God was identified with the vanishing point. In the 17th and 18th centuries infinity further emerged not only in the very, very large (the cosmos itself), but in the very, very small (within calculus). This paved the way in the 19th and 20th centuries for the idea of different orders of infinity codified by Georg Cantor, where the concept mingled again with theology. Math and science buffs familiar with some aspects of infinity may first learn of its link with art, as well as a long association with theology - right up to the present. With lucid visual aids for the uninitiated, this book may likewise grant the Art lover access into a previously uncharted territory - a math venture to stretch the mind.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Brown Walker Press (FL)
ISBN-13
9781627345064
eBay Product ID (ePID)
215836887

Product Key Features

Author
David R Topper
Publication Name
Idolatry and Infinity: of Art, Math, and God
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Mathematics
Publication Year
2014
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
134 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
246mm
Item Width
189mm
Item Weight
254g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
David R Topper
Topic
Popular Philosophy, Religious History
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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Idolatry and Infinity: Of Art, Math, and God by David R Topper (Paperback, 2014)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Adult Learning & University

Australian Guidebook for Structural Engineers by Lonnie Pack (Paperback, 2019)

Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies Route B: Catholic Christianity and Judaism by Deirdre Cleary, Andrew Barron, Joy White, Patrick Harrison (Paperback, 2017)

Time Management by Peter Quarry (Paperback, 1986)

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe (Paperback, 2007)

Save on Adult Learning & University

The Australian Native Bee Hive Book: Keeping Stingless Sugarbag OATH Tim Heard

Weed Forager's Handbook: A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia by A

Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy: Classic Regional Approach

The Indoctrinated Brain: How to Successfully Fend Off the Global Attack on Your

Tuning the A-Series Engine: the Definitive Manual on tuning for Performance or E

Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by George Hrabovsky

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