KristineinKS Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I recently started reading this book and it is too wonderful not to share. The book is called "A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematic Archetypes of Nature, Art and Science" and would make a wonderful introduction to Geometry, or reading for an older child-adult. I wrote about it on my blog as well, so won't go into lots of detail here, but it is absolutely fascinating (and I hate math!) and written in layman's terms - very easy for a student or non-math person such as myself. From the back cover, "Michael Schneider leads us on a spectacular, lavishly illustrated journey along the numbers one through ten to explore the mathematical principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants and the human body, expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion, art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and underlie human affairs." It reads in a similar way to "The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way" by Joy Hakim and covers some of the same material, but also much more...Additionally, there are hands-on exercises to complete, constructing the various geometric shapes highlighted in each chapter, using only a compass and straight-edge and a complete set of activity books is available at the author's website: Constructing the Universe. I'm going to order the activity books to see if they'd be suitable or easy to adapt for my 6th-soon-to-be-7th grader, but they look very promising and are wonderful in that they combine art, architecture, science and so much more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Thank you! That looks like it would be fantastic for my daughter next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 I know this an old post, but I'm looking into this book and the activity books. OP, did you ever use the activity books? If so, what did you think? Did you all enjoy them? Was it worth the time (and money)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 This book is listed as a teacher resource for the St. Jerome Classical School. I just noticed it yesterday. I had never heard of it and now I see this post! I am so tempted to get it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 This book is listed as a teacher resource for the St. Jerome Classical School. I just noticed it yesterday. I had never heard of it and now I see this post! I am so tempted to get it! I was going to post the same thing, LOL. I thought it must be serendipity that I had heard of it twice in the same day. I think it would be good next year for my then to be 5th grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 It was the St. Jerome Classical School educational plan that told me about it, too! I have it on hold at the library and will read it over the next few weeks. But I was hoping to hear of someone who had used the Activity books, since my library definitely doesn't have those. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Wow, I'm tagging these for next year. I'd love to hear what you think of the activity books when you get them. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Thanks for pulling this up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I'm so glad this thread was bumped up ... I'm ordering this book for my dh for Christmas. He's a geometry teacher, but beyond that, I swear geometry runs through his veins. :D It looks like a book he'll love, and one that he'll want to share with our kids too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecat Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Fabulous! Thanks for bumping this up. This is just the sort of thing we're looking for. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecat Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I wrote about it on my blog as well, so won't go into lots of detail here, but it is absolutely fascinating (and I hate math!) and written in layman's terms - very easy for a student or non-math person such as myself. Ahhh .... just found your blog post and have had a read. :) Thanks. http://wildoakacademy.blogspot.com/2009/02/beginners-guide-to-constructing.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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