Sacred Number: The Secret Quality of Quantities (Wooden Books) [Hardcover]

Miranda Lundy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wooden Books | Publication Date: August 25, 2005

Numbers permeate every aspect of our lives; very little happens without a basic ability to manipulate the simple whole numbers we all take for granted. Beautifully illustrated with old engravings as well as contemporary imagery, Sacred Number introduces basic counting systems; significant numbers from major religious texts; the importance of astronomy, geometry, and music to number quality; how numbers affect architecture. Lundy explains why the ideas of Pythagoras still resonate, and she profiles each number from one to ten to show its distinct qualities: why, for example, the golden section is associated with five, and seven with the Virgin Mary.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Miranda Lundy has studied the history of number for most of her life. The author of Sacred Geometry, she lives in England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (August 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802714560
• ISBN-13: 978-0802714565
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredibly Beautiful Book, January 16, 2006

By 

Peter Stephenson (Topanga, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Number: The Secret Quality of Quantities (Wooden Books) (Hardcover)

I was given this book as a present and have now read it over ten times. Lovely images and good mathematics. Lundy covers the numbers 1-12 in detail, listing their relationships to music, geometry and Pythagorean number theory, as well as some cultural background. She does this without sounding either too 'symbolic' or too 'mathematical'. Each number is presented with its own compound illustration, and these are - to put it plainly - quite awesomely well executed. The book then goes off into Magic Squares, Gematria and other esoterica again managing to stay neat, informative and historical. Finally there are extensive appendices. I utterly commend this rare, beautiful and fascinating book to anyone with even a passing interest in numbers.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, March 4, 2009

By 

J. Lovelace "MathMagic" (California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sacred Number: The Secret Quality of Quantities (Wooden Books) (Hardcover)

As a mathematician I have to say I loved this book, as well as the entire wooden books series. The book is 50% image and 50% language, the perfect combination to keep both mind and eye engaged. The wooden book claim of, "little books, big ideas" couldn't be more true than this book. I have read it many times. I intend to read it many more times and will probably buy several copies for my friends.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceivingly great book!, December 24, 2009

By 

Midge (Michiana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sacred Number: The Secret Quality of Quantities (Wooden Books) (Hardcover)

This little book taught me even more about the sacred qualities of numbers than I ever would have imagined! I've studied various numerological systems such as The Enneagram (Helen Palmer is best) and numerology along with crystal studies. I was shocked to see the Enneagram structure in it! This book has a bunch to offer who look for quality over just quantity. We've become too numbed to our mathematics and quantifications. Time to see through a different lens. Highly recommended!