Every artist should read this book, and every scientist,
and anyone interested in evolution, culture, and the nature of thought and
existence in general. Perhaps that conveys the scope of this book, which draws
together many disciplines and insights into a convincing and delightful
discourse.
The book explains how nature is aesthetically
pleasing, how it has evolved to be so, and how humanity has evolved in relation
to beauty, from the earliest tracings of cave paintings. The art instinct
shaped the civilisation of early humanity, and the flowering of our culture and
psychology.
Rothenberg questions whether it is only human art
which has meaning, and ponders whether animal works are really fundamentally
different. Beauty emerges in animal behaviour contrary to scientific theories
of sexual selection – the patterns of bird and whale song correspond, revealing
a purpose other than purely functional.
The author flits from music to philosophy to
mathematics to art, connecting ideas and showing the interconnection and
underlying patterns of beauty in all things.
11th November 2014
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