Seen | Unseen: Art, Science, and Intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble Telescope [Hardcover]

Martin Kemp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2006

Seen | Unseen is a deep, richly illustrated, and erudite analysis of the interconnections between science and the visual arts. Martin Kemp explores the responses of artists, scientists, and their instruments, to the world--ranging from early representations of perspective, to pinhole cameras, particle accelerators and the Hubble telescope.

From Leonardo, Durer, and the inventors of photography to contemporary sculptors, and from Galileo and Darwin to Stephen J. Gould, Kemp considers the way in which scientists and artists have perceived the world and responded to its patterns, and sees common "structural intuitions" reflected in their work.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In Seen/Unseen, Kemp engages in some Leonardo da Vinci-like lateral thinking, tracking the parallel and often complementary ways in which artists and scientists have visualized the world from the fifteenth century to the present. Kemp connects the dots between, say, perspective in Renaissance painting to the three-dimensional computer models of today. Kemp's explications require the reader's close concentration as they illuminate not only painting, sculpture, photography, and satellite imaging but also anatomy, astronomy, particle physics, and advanced mathematics. This does not make for light reading, but the rewards are substantial. Kevin Nance
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"This well-illustrated book will appeal to anyone interested in form and perspective in the visual arts,as well as to science readers interested in perception and aesthetic sense."--Chemistry World

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199295727
• ISBN-13: 978-0199295722
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art & Science, Friends for Life, September 30, 2007

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C. L. Vash (Altadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Seen | Unseen: Art, Science, and Intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble Telescope (Hardcover)

Please don't be put off by the Introduction. Keep reading; you'll be glad you did. The Intro seemed (to me) to be an extreme example of the overly precise elaboration of subtle(!) nuances that readers of scholarly writings learn to tolerate because we NEED the information buried - somewhere - within. But as soon as he moved away from trying to explain himself (his intentions, his book), and moved onto his topic, the writing began to flow. It became a wonderful opportunity to "listen" while an expert mused upon the historical intertwinement of the evolution(s) of art (his field) and science (one he has bothered to learn quite a lot about) ... and their apparent interdependence. He claims interest only in the varied uses of visual experience, but not in the currently-popular reconciliation of art and science. Yet, page by page, I found myself developing clearer understanding of why so many thinkers are feeling driven to try to reconcile these realms of activity that are often contrasted in ways that demean one or the other. Similarly, he shows no particular interest in a third currently-popular realm that I expected to find treated, our evolving brain and its wiring &/or activity. But he has made it easier for someone who does have this interest to write the next book in what could become a "series."