A fascinating topic! A fascinating book! Quite often, science and art are considered as the "two cultures" that divide our society into two separate groups. However, important phenomena in science and art have a common root. Using the concept of broken symmetries, the author explains the similarities between the process of creation of an art work and of a scientific theory, as well as the similarity between the process of perception and measurement. Symmetry is the succession of static and balanced structures. In order to obtain information, the symmetry of an initially balanced system must be broken. The consequence is ambiguity, the critical point of any dynamical instability. Here the world of physics and of the emotional and rational spheres match. The dynamics of perception (the transformation leading to a choice) involve well-known physical phenomena such as symmetry, entropy and others.
Many illustrations and a strict ratio between poular inserts and technical chapters make this a scintillating book explaining how science and art have the feature of universality in common.
Many illustrations and a strict ratio between poular inserts and technical chapters make this a scintillating book explaining how science and art have the feature of universality in common.