The Geometry of an Art: The History of the Mathematical Theory of Perspective from Alberti to Monge

by Kirsti Andersen

Overview

Key Issues ver since the late 1970s when Pia Holdt, a student of mine at the time, and Jed Buchwald, a colleague normally working in another field, made E me aware of how fascinating the history of perspective constructions is, I have wanted to know more. My studies have resulted in the present book, in which I am mainly concerned with describing how the understanding of the geometry behind perspective developed and how, and to what extent, new insights within the mathematical theoryof perspective influenced the way the discipline was presented in textbooks. In order to throw light on these aspects of the history of perspective, I have chosen to focus upon a number of key questions that I have divided into two groups. Questions Concerning the History of Geometrical Perspective • How did geometrical constructions of perspective images emerge? • How were they understood mathematically? • How did the geometrical constructions give rise to a mathematical theory of perspective? • How did this theory evolve? Inconnectionwith the last question it is natural to takeup the following themes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387259611
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	12/07/2006
Series:	Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Edition description:	2007
Pages:	814
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.07(d)

Table of Contents

The Birth of Perspective.- Alberti and Piero della Francesca.- Leonardo da Vinci.- Italy in the Cinquecento.- North of the Alps Before 1600.- The Birth of the Mathematical Theory of Perspective Guidobaldo and Stevin.- The Dutch Development after Stevin.- Italy after Guidobaldo.- France and the Southern Netherlands after 1600.- Britain.- The German-Speaking Areas after 1600.- Lambert.- Monge Closing a Circle.- Summing Up.

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

"The book in question is a survey of the history of this subject … . I do not know the author, but I came to trust her voice in the book, to trust her honesty and her judgments. I appreciated the clarity of her illustrations and her concern for the reader’s understanding. I found the book to be carefully written, and I was impressed with the immense amount of work that must have gone into writing it." (Greg St. George, Zentralblatt für Didaktik der Mathematik, Vol. 39, 2007)

"I was very pleased to find Kristi Andersen’s book on the history of the geometrical evolution of perspective. … Reading it from the point of view of someone who is interested in geometry as well as art, it is a fascinating book, but it also has much to offer the historian of mathematics. … it is extremely well produced and researched and makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on perspective as well as the history of geometry." (John Sharp, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Vol. 1 (4), 2007)

From the Publisher