Universe of Stone

Universe of Stone

by PhilipBall (Author)

Synopsis

In the twelfth century, Christians in Europe began to build a completely new kind of church - not the squat, gloomy buildings we now call Romanesque, but soaring, spacious monuments flooded with light from immense windows. These were the first Gothic churches, the crowning example of which was the cathedral of Chartres, an unparalleled feat of craftsmanship in which all the elements of the new style cohered perfectly for the first time. It marked a profound change in the social, intellectual and theological climate of Western Christendom.In Universe of Stone , Philip Ball explains the genesis and development of the Gothic style. He argues that it signified a new way of looking at God and the universe, as well as humanity's relationship with them. Informed by the rediscovery of texts from the ancient world, philosophers began to question old certainties about God's power and plan for mankind. This was the beginning of the argument between faith and reason, and of a scientific view of the world that threatened to dispense with God altogether. Universe of Stone establishes Chartres Cathedral's iconic role in Europe's history: a revolution in thought embodied in stone and glass, a philosophy made concrete through the cooperation of theologians, craftsmen and engineers. It shows us that there are other ways of seeing the world and reveals, as never before, the complex workings of the medieval mind.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: The Bodley Head Ltd
Published: 01 May 2008

ISBN 10: 0224078631
ISBN 13: 9780224078634
Book Overview: Award-winning author Philip Ball illuminates the medieval mind through a study of the greatest architectural masterpiece of the period, Chartres Cathedral.

Media Reviews
A lively biography of Chartres Cathedral. . . . Ball's account of its construction reveals fascinating details . . . and evokes its raison d'?tre. --The New Yorker
Author Bio
Philip Ball is a freelance writer and a consultant editor for the world's leading science journal Nature. He is a regular commentator on the interactions between science, art, history and culture. His previous books include Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, H2O: A Biography of Water and Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To Another, which won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books.