Geometry is both elegantly simple and infinitely profound. Many professionals find they need to be able to draw geometric shapes accurately, and this unique book shows them how. It provides step-by-step instructions for constructing two-dimensional geometric shapes, which can be readily followed by a beginner, or used as an invaluable source book by students and professionals.

The flowering of Gothic architecture depended to a striking extent on the use of drawing as a tool of design. By drawing precise "blueprints" with simple tools such as the compass and straightedge, Gothic draftsmen were able to develop a linearized architecture of unprecedented complexity and sophistication. Examination of their surviving drawings can provide valuable and remarkably intimate information about the Gothic design process. Gothic drawings include compass pricks, uninked construction lines, and other telltale traces of the draftsman's geometrically based working method. The proportions of the drawings, moreover, are those actually intended by the designer, uncompromised by errors introduced in the construction process. All of these features make these drawings ideal subjects for the study of Gothic design practice, but their geometry has to date received little systematic attention. This book offers a new perspective on Gothic architectural creativity. It shows, in a series of rigorous geometrical case studies, how Gothic design evolved over time, in two senses: in the hours of the draftsman's labor, and across the centuries of the late Middle Ages. In each case study, a series of computer graphics show in unprecedented detail how a medieval designer could have developed his architectural concept step by step, using only basic geometrical operations. Taken together, these analyses demonstrate both remarkable methodological continuity across the Gothic era, and the progressive development of new and sophisticated permutations on venerable design themes. This rich tradition ultimately gave way in the Renaissance not because of any inherent problem with Gothic architecture, but because the visual language of Classicism appealed more directly to the pretensions of Humanist princes than the more abstract geometrical order of Gothic design, as the book's final chapter demonstrates.

The latest title in the Art for Modern Makers series, Creative Drawing: Symbols and Sacred Geometry takes readers on an inspired journey that explores the beautiful imagery and fascinating themes of sacred geometry while demonstrating compass drawing and exploring colored pencils, watercolor, inks, and other mediums.

An undergraduate textbook devoted exclusively to relationships between mathematics and art, Viewpoints is ideally suited for math-for-liberal-arts courses and mathematics courses for fine arts majors. The textbook contains a wide variety of classroom-tested activities and problems, a series of essays by contemporary artists written especially for the book, and a plethora of pedagogical and learning opportunities for instructors and students. Viewpoints focuses on two mathematical areas: perspective related to drawing man-made forms and fractal geometry related to drawing natural forms. Investigating facets of the three-dimensional world in order to understand mathematical concepts behind the art, the textbook explores art topics including comic, anamorphic, and classical art, as well as photography, while presenting such mathematical ideas as proportion, ratio, self-similarity, exponents, and logarithms. Straightforward problems and rewarding solutions empower students to make accurate, sophisticated drawings. Personal essays and short biographies by contemporary artists are interspersed between chapters and are accompanied by images of their work. These fine artists--who include mathematicians and scientists--examine how mathematics influences their art. Accessible to students of all levels, Viewpoints encourages experimentation and collaboration, and captures the essence of artistic and mathematical creation and discovery. Classroom-tested activities and problem solving Accessible problems that move beyond regular art school curriculum Multiple solutions of varying difficulty and applicability Appropriate for students of all mathematics and art levels Original and exclusive essays by contemporary artists Forthcoming: Instructor's manual (available only to teachers)

The aim of this book is to examine the geometry of our world and, by blending theory with a variety of every-day examples, to stimulate the imagination of the readers and develop their geometric intuition. It tries to recapture the excitement that surrounded geometry during the Renaissance as the development of perspective drawing gathered pace, or more recently as engineers sought to show that all the world was a machine. The same excitement is here still, as enquiring minds today puzzle over a random-dot stereogram or the interpretation of an image painstakingly transmitted from Jupiter. The book will give a solid foundation for a variety of undergraduate courses, to provide a basis for a geometric component of graduate teacher training, and to provide background for those who work in computer graphics and scene analysis. It begins with a self-contained development of the geometry of extended Euclidean space. This framework is then used to systematically clarify and develop the art of perspective drawing and its converse discipline of scene analysis and to analyze the behavior of bar-and-joint mechanisms and hinged-panel mechanisms. Spherical polyhedra are introduced and scene analysis is applied to drawings of these and associated objects. The book concludes by showing how a natural relaxation of the axioms developed in the early chapters leads to the concept of a matroid and briefly examines some of the attractive properties of these natural structures.

For all students and lecturers of basic engineering and technical drawing The new edition of this successful text describes all the geometric instructions and engineering drawing information, likely to be needed by anyone preparing or interpreting drawings or designs. There are also plenty of exercises to practise these principles.

Professional guide to making three-dimensional models of all the Platonic and Archimedian solids in step-by-step instructions.

A hilarious reeducation in mathematics-full of joy, jokes, and stick figures-that sheds light on the countless practical and wonderful ways that math structures and shapes our world. In Math With Bad Drawings, Ben Orlin reveals to us what math actually is; its myriad uses, its strange symbols, and the wild leaps of logic and faith that define the usually impenetrable work of the mathematician. Truth and knowledge come in multiple forms: colorful drawings, encouraging jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone. Orlin shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a brand-new game of tic-tac-toe, how to understand an economic crises by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical headache that ensues when attempting to build a spherical Death Star. Every discussion in the book is illustrated with Orlin's trademark "bad drawings," which convey his message and insights with perfect pitch and clarity. With 24 chapters covering topics from the electoral college to human genetics to the reasons not to trust statistics, Math with Bad Drawings is a life-changing book for the math-estranged and math-enamored alike.