Science, Art and Geometrical Imagination
Abstract
From the geocentric, closed world model of Antiquity to the wraparound universe models of relativistic cosmology, the parallel history of space representations in science and art illustrates the fundamental role of geometric imagination in innovative findings. Through the analysis of works of various artists and scientists like Plato, Durer, Kepler, Escher, Grisey or the present author, it is shown how the process of creation in science and in the arts rests on aesthetical principles such as symmetry, regular polyhedra, laws of harmonic proportion, tessellations, group theory, etc., as well as beauty, conciseness and emotional approach of the world.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0911.0267,
title = {Science, Art and Geometrical Imagination},
author = {J. -P. Luminet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0911.0267},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
22 pages, 28 figures, invited talk at the IAU Symposium 260 "The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture", UNESCO, 19-23 January 2009, Paris, Proceedings to be published