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21 Jan 2021 01:26:02 UTC
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90905
Author: Michael Greenhalgh
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This is a broad survey of the various structural and decorative uses of marble and antiquities throughout the Mediterranean during the Millennium following the Emperor Constantine. The heavy footprint of Roman civic and religious architecture helped provide attractive and luxurious building materials, re-used to construct diverse and often sophisticated monuments. The book argues that marble-rich sites and cities around this lake were linked at various times and in varying degrees by trade, pilgrimage, war and diplomacy, as well as by the imperatives of religion - Venice to Alexandria, Damascus to Cordoba. Aachen makes less sense without reference to Rome or Jerusalem Damascus without Kairouan Istanbul without Cairo. To accompany the illustrations in the text, the DVD at the back of the book contains over 5,000 images, together with discussions which extend various arguments in the printed book.ReviewMarble Past, Monumental Present is excellent and, best of all, both compelling and on occasions provocative. The bibliography is bang up to date. It will shed new light on an immense architectural story. Richard Hodges, Professor and Director of the Institute of World Archaeology, University of East Anglia, co-author of Byzantine Butrint (2004) Building on his previous studies, Michael Greenhalgh in this book has produced a dazzling survey and a proper synthesis of the use and the aesthetics of spolia (and architectural borrowing more generally) in the whole early and central medieval, Mediterranean and European, world. Everyone working on medieval material culture, and on urban and cultural history in general, will have to read this book. Chris Wickham, Chichele Professor of Medieval History, University of Oxford, and author of Framing the early Middle Ages Europe and the Mediterranean 400-800 (2005) Con uno sguardo telescopico, lautore misura - senza gerarchie - linfluenza, la forza e la suggestione delle pietre antiche reimpiegate nellarchitettura dei paesi cristiani e mussulmani aperti su quel lago circondato dal marmo che e il Mediterraneo. Attraverso una pluralita di riferimenti ed esempi la. dispone, entro un eccezionale quadro di insieme, le diverse forme e i perche del riutilizzo dei marmi antichi. Ne emerge una filigrana intrigata e ricca entro la quale ogni mediterraneo riscopre legami e relazioni indissolubili che, oggi piu di ieri, meritano - attraverso la diffusione e la traduzione dellopera - di essere affermati e conosciuti dai cittadini europei. Simonetta Ciranna, Universita degli Studi dellAquila, and author of Spolia e caratteristiche del reimpiego nella Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura a Roma (2000) In this engaging book, Michael Greenhalgh explores the recycling of marbles and other antiquities throughout the post-Roman Mediterranean. Without denying the continuation of artistic and architectural ideals, he shows how dynamic and innovative was the re-use of past monuments and materials. With a nuanced comparative analysis he demonstrates the lack of any desire to imitate the glory of Rome by exact architectural reproduction, and he reminds us all that in order to understand the West, one should constantly look at events and developments in the East. Marble Past, Monumental Present is not only a thought provoking contribution to the history of medieval architecture it is also an important step forward in our understanding of the ways in which rulers, artists and architects perceived their own past. Professor Yitzhak Hen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, author of Roman Barbarians The Royal Court and Culture in the Early Medieval West (2007) and General Editor of the Series Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Brepols Turnhout) About the AuthorMichael Greenhalgh, MA, Ph.D. (Manchester 1968) is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the Australian National University. His books include Donatello & his Sources (1982), The Survival of Roman Antiquities in the Middle Ages (1989), and many papers on the later fate of classical monuments.
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112273
Author: Fukagawa Hidetoshi
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Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Japan was totally isolated from the West by imperial decree. During that time, a unique brand of homegrown mathematics flourished, one that was completely uninfluenced by developments in Western mathematics. People from all walks of life--samurai, farmers, and merchants--inscribed a wide variety of geometry problems on wooden tablets called sangaku and hung them in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines throughout Japan. Sacred Mathematics is the first book published in the West to fully examine this tantalizing--and incredibly beautiful--mathematical tradition.Fukagawa Hidetoshi and Tony Rothman present for the first time in English excerpts from the travel diary of a nineteenth-century Japanese mathematician, Yamaguchi Kanzan, who journeyed on foot throughout Japan to collect temple geometry problems. The authors set this fascinating travel narrative--and almost everything else that is known about temple geometry--within the broader cultural and historical context of the period. They explain the sacred and devotional aspects of sangaku, and reveal how Japanese folk mathematicians discovered many well-known theorems independently of mathematicians in the West--and in some cases much earlier. The book is generously illustrated with photographs of the tablets and stunning artwork of the period. Then there are the geometry problems themselves, nearly two hundred of them, fully illustrated and ranging from the utterly simple to the virtually impossible. Solutions for most are provided.A unique book in every respect, Sacred Mathematics demonstrates how mathematical thinking can vary by culture yet transcend cultural and geographic boundaries.ReviewNow Fukagawa Hidetoshi, a mathematics teacher, and writer Tony Rothman present a collection of Sangaku problems in their book, Sacred Mathematics. The puzzles range from simple algebra within the grasp of any intermediate-school student, to challenging problems that require graduate-school mathematics to solve. Copious illustrations and many detailed solutions show the scope, complexity, and beauty of what was tackled in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate. -- Peter J. Lu, NatureFascinating and beautiful book. -- Physics WorldThis book is the most thorough (and beautiful) account of Japanese temple geometry (sangaku) available. -- Paul J. Campbell, Mathematics MagazineThe difficult problems with complete solutions and rich commentary that comprise the heart of this book will interest every mathematics student. -- ChoiceThis is a marvelous book. Good books are not just written or compiled, they are crafted. Sacred Mathematics is a well crafted work that combines mathematics, history and cultural considerations into an intriguing narrative. . . . The writing style is appealing and the organization of material excellent. Princeton University Press must be congratulated on producing this quality publication and offering it at an agreeable price. This book is highly recommended for personal reading and library acquisition. It should be especially appealing to problem solvers. -- Frank J. Swetz, ConvergenceA unique book in every respect. Sacred Mathematics demonstrates how mathematical thinking can vary by culture yet transcend cultural and geographic boundaries. -- International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter From the Inside FlapAn enchanting history of Japanese geometry--of a time and place where geometers did not cede place to poets. This intersection of science and culture, of the mathematical, the artistic, and the spiritual, is packed, like circles within circles, with rewarding Aha! epiphanies that drive a mathematicians curiosity.--Siobhan Roberts, author of King of Infinite SpaceTeachers will welcome this remarkable collection of mathematical problems, history, and art, which will enrich their curriculum and promote both logical thinking and critical evaluation. It is especially important that we maintain an interest in geometry, which needs, and for once gets, more than its share.--Richard Guy, coauthor of The Book of NumbersThis remarkable book provides a novel insight into the Japanese mathematics of the past few hundred years. It is fascinating to see the difference in mathematical style from that which we are used to in the Western world, but the book also elegantly illustrates the cross-cultural Platonic nature and profound beauty of mathematics itself.--Roger Penrose, author of The Road to RealityA significant contribution to the history of mathematics. The wealth of mathematical problems--from the very simple to quite complex ones--will keep the interested reader busy for years. And the beautiful illustrations make this book a work of art as much as of science. Destined to become a classic!--Eli Maor, author of The Pythagorean Theorem A 4,000-Year HistoryA pleasure to read. Sacred Mathematics brings to light the unique style and character of geometry in the traditional Japanese sources--in particular the sangaku problems. These problems range from trivial to utterly devilish. I found myself captivated by them, and regularly astounded by the ingenuity and sophistication of many of the traditional solutions.--Glen Van Brummelen, coeditor of Mathematics and the Historians Craft
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