History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Book 1 An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe (The Nature of Order, Book 1)

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Gordon L. Prescott come to life?
Some of these reviews are flawed
Dissapointing
The actual physical book is not up to the ideals of the content
This book changed the way I look at everything...

The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Book 1 An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe (The Nature of Order, Book 1)
Chris Alexander
Manufacturer: Center for Environmental Structure
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0972652914

Amazon.com

Christopher Alexander, the humble messiah of good architectural design, invites readers to get comfortable with their inner judgments in The Nature of Order: The Phenomenon of Life. Best known as principal author of A Pattern Language, Alexander has designed and built countless projects worldwide, all the while thinking deeply about the nature of his work. Frustrated with the 20th century's reluctance to acknowledge human commonality and reliance on Cartesian mechanism, he urges us to rethink our understanding of space itself. With an architect's precision and clarity, he explains his theory of life as the order inhabiting space--an order both variable in degree and apprehensible to human minds. Though the scientifically minded will resist his seeming subjectivity, it will be hard for any to argue that his many examples of good and bad design are equivalent. Alexander's combination of powerful analysis and compelling synthesis makes The Nature of Order essential 21st-century reading. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

What is happening when a place in the world has life? And what is happening when it does not? In Book 1 of this four-volume work, Alexander describes a scientific view of the world in which all space-matter has perceptible degrees of life, and sets this understanding of living structure as an intellectual basis for a new architecture.

He identifies fifteen geometric properties which tend to accompany the presence of life in nature, and also in the buildings and cities we make. These properties are seen over and over in nature, and in cities and streets of the past, but have all but disappeared in the deadly developments and buildings of the last one hundred years.

The book shows that living structure depends on features which make a close connection with the human self, and that only living structure has the capacity to support human well-being.

The other three volumes of The Nature of Order continue this thesis with three complementary views giving a masterful prescription for the processes which allow us to generate living structure in the world. They show us what such a world must gradually come to look like, and describe the modified cosmology in which "life" as an essential quality, together with our inner connection to the world around us-towns, streets, buildings, and artifacts-are central to a proper understanding of the scientific nature of the universe.

". . . Five hundred years is a long time, and I don't expect many of the people I interview will be known in the year 2500. Christopher Alexander may be an exception."-David Creelman, author, interviewer and editor, HR Magazine, Toronto

Christopher Alexander is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, architect, builder and author of many books and technical papers. He is the winner of the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects, and after 40 years of teaching is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

Customer Reviews:

Gordon L. Prescott come to life?.......2006-09-25

Read 'The Fifteen Properties' excerpted in the 'First Nomination for Book of the Century' customer review, or any other excerpt, and then consider the words of Gordon L. Prescott from 'The Fountainhead':

"The flowing life which comes from the sense of order in chaos, or, if you prefer, from unity in diversity, as well as vice-versa, which is the realization of the contradiction inherent in architecture, is here absolutely absent. I am really trying to express myself as clearly as I can, but it is impossible to present a dialectic state by covering it up with an old fig leaf of logic just for the sake of the mentally lazy layman."

I wish I could give a 'no star' review, but amazon doesn't have that option.

Some of these reviews are flawed.......2005-12-04

Anne Broadbent's review below is completely unjustified. She writes "At the beginning of the first book, Alexander shows a beautiful pagoda - but I still think I wouldn't want to have one near me, in the guise of a shopping centre, school, house, gym, restaurant, bank or whatever: I'd rather see it in its original cultural setting." Alexander agrees completely with this point. His whole theory involves local adaptation following the fundamental properties and transformations that he has outlined in these books. Nowhere does he suggest that we should use the pagoda's form in any other cultural context. If you look at some of the examples he gives from nature you will understand this. He discusses the way sand dunes form following some of the fundamental properties. Does this mean he claims we should create sand dunes in the jungle? Of course not. Examples of buildings, places, and natural phenomena, are used as a means of displaying these fundamental properties and how these properties occur universally in phenomena which the majority of humans, and all other life forms would agree contain the quality of life. Throughout the series of books, Alexander provides hundreds of examples of human creations and natural creations to support his thesis. This may or may not be news to Miss Broadbent, but this is widely acknowledged as good scientific method.

Dissapointing.......2005-11-17

I very much enjoyed 'Pattern Language' and had great hopes for this series, however, after finishing book one, I am not sure I will invest in further volumes. I give the author credit for the time and effort spent in trying to develop his 'unified field theory' of good design, but unlike some of the common sense examples in Pattern language, this book moves to a level of metaphysical abstraction that seems to stretch the ideas past their breaking point. Not-Separateness? The Void? Though he makes a valiant effort, I just couldn't shake the fact that I was reading an after-the-fact justification of the authors pre-conceived tastes. Which essentially boil down to: old = good, new = bad.
Most off-putting also, were the scrawled, barely legible sketches that were meant to illustrate some of the principles. They are so poorly rendered as to be distracting and not very helpful to boot. I would expect more graphic sense from someone purporting to explain the universal secrets of good design. I really wanted to love this book, but I find it simply frustrating.

The actual physical book is not up to the ideals of the content.......2005-08-02

I haven't finshed reading the content of this book - this is more a comment on the delivery medium...

The 'hardcover' book more closely resembles a cardboard cover book. Mine is easily bent and permanently warped in multiple dimensions - makng it much more like your typical large paperback book than a $75 hardback book. It seems harder and harder for publishers to strike that balance between quantity and quality of pictorial content on the one hand, and quality and flashiness of the cover on the other.

This book changed the way I look at everything..........2005-07-10

As a total amateur, I have no design training. I am fascinated by architecture and design, but really only "know what I like". I read "A Pattern Language" when working on object oriented computer systems and find it fascinating - I still re-read it. So, when I saw this book, I was hoping that it would be interesting.

It is way beyond interesting. It completely changed the way I look at the world. It deserves to be read carefully, slowly, savored. Alexander makes his work accessible to both architects and lay people alike.

Bravo.

Even with two kids in college, I am going to spring for book 2. Higher praise could not be given.

Contested Symmetries and Other Predicaments in Architecture

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Contested Symmetries and Other Predicaments in Architecture
Preston S. Cohen , and Preston Scott Cohen
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 156898250X

Book Description

Architect Preston Scott Cohen combines the use of the most advanced digital modeling technologies with a fascination for 17th century descriptive geometry. He uses familiar forms distorted by oblique projections and similar devices to create complex designs that challenge our preconceptions about the nature of order in architecture.?

Book Description

Modern minimalism with a Japanese touch

Philippe Starck describes him as a "mystic in a country which is no longer mystic." Drew Philip calls his buildings "land art" that "struggle to emerge from the earth." He is the only architect to have won the discipline's four most prestigious prizes: the Pritzker, Carlsberg, Praemium Imperiale, and Kyoto Prize. His name is Tadao Ando, and he is one of the world's greatest living architects. Combining influences from Japanese tradition with the best of Modernism, Ando has developed a completely unique building aesthetic that makes use of concrete, wood, water, light, space, and nature in a way that has never been witnessed elsewhere in architecture.

This book provides the perfect introduction to Ando's work, including private homes, churches, museums, apartment complexes, and cultural spaces throughout Japan, and in France, Italy, Spain, and the USA.

Customer Reviews:

worth buying.......2007-05-13

this books introduce lots of important works of Tadao Ando
good print quality, nice pictures with reasonable price

Another Great Book from Taschen.......2007-01-22

This is the first Taschen Basic Architecture volume about a living architect. The earlier Taschen volumes have been about the Modernist masters such as Mies, Le Corbusier, Loos, Wright, Kahn and Neutra. If there is any living architect who can measure up to this Pantheon of Greats, it is Pritzker Prize winner, Tadao Ando.

Like the other volumes in this series, there is a short biographical essay, followed by short chapters that focus on key works. The German Publishing Company Taschen publishes some of the best architectural books. Their books are always of the highest quality and reasonably priced. At Ten Dollars, it is hard to imagine a better introduction to the works of one of the most important architects of the Twentieth Century. Highly recommended.

Synchronizing Geometry: Landscape, Architecture & Construction / Ideographic Resources

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Synchronizing Geometry: Landscape, Architecture & Construction / Ideographic Resources
Borja Ferrater , and Carlos Ferrater
Manufacturer: Actar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 8496540340
Release Date: 2006-12-01

Product Description

This important book explores geometry as a means of approximating landscape and urban forms. In recent years, Carlos Ferrater's architecture studio has regularly and continuously developed new avenues for formal expression. This collection of projects comprises a family of independent experiences, joined by a common logic of design approximation: Geometry as a means of approximating landscape and urban forms. The book is divided into three parts: The time of Geometry, Research Process and Ideographical Resources. This framework aims to define the conditions whereby the job of architecture is to move from geometry to space by means of construction.

Abstraction Geometry Painting: Geometric Abstract Painting in America Since 1945

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Abstraction Geometry Painting: Geometric Abstract Painting in America Since 1945
Michael Auping
Manufacturer: Albright-Knox Art Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Geometry of Environment: An Introduction to Spatial Organization in Design

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The Geometry of Environment: An Introduction to Spatial Organization in Design
Lionel March , and Philip Steadman
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Short, packed with information, math backround needed
For people seeking to program Fractals or Chaos
A Classic of Fractals
A Excellent Introduction to Fractals
Very nice book...short but packed full of information

Fractals
Hans Lauwerier
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691024456

Book Description

Fractals are shapes in which an identical motif repeats itself on an ever diminishing scale. A coastline, for instance, is a fractal, with each bay or headland having its own smaller bays and headlands--as is a tree with a trunk that separates into two smaller side branches, which in their turn separate into side branches that are smaller still. No longer mathematical curiosities, fractals are now a vital subject of mathematical study, practical application, and popular interest. For readers interested in graphic design, computers, and science and mathematics in general, Hans Lauwerier provides an accessible introduction to fractals that makes only modest use of mathematical techniques. Lauwerier calls this volume a "book to work with." Readers with access to microcomputers can design new figures, as well as re-create famous examples. They can start with the final chapter, try out one of the programs described there (preferably in a compiled version such as TURBO BASIC), and consult the earlier chapters for whatever is needed to understand the fractals produced in this way. The first chapter, which builds on the relationship of binary number systems to the "tree fractal" described above, is the best place to start if one has no computer. There will be much to enjoy on the way, including the beautiful color illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Short, packed with information, math backround needed.......2006-05-03

If you want to read this book, there are a couple of recommendations from me:

First, review your math: number systems, mods, logarithms, trigonometry, functions.
Second, prepare yourself for a book that is packed with information in each line. Don't expect even a line skip unnecessary.
Third, if you want to make a full use of book, don't read it and put it aside. You have to bear with the author and work out the examples. These two facts, combined with your willing to analyze the code algorithms will make you learn the fractals -relatively- deeply.

The bonus fact is that the authour explains how to create your own fractals in the last chapter.

As "the cons" I can say that the turbo basic programs are outdated. They need a good revision, possibly a port to C, Java (or maybe Ruby for the fans). In my opinion, a clean C code would do the trick.

Finally here is the chapter list:

i. Preface
ii. Acknowledgements
iii. Introduction

1. Counting and Number Systems
2. Numbers and Points
3. Meanders and Fractals
4. Spirals, Trees and Stars
5. The Analysis of a Fractal
6. Chance in Fractals
7. Poincare, Julia, Mandelbrot
8. Making Your Own Fractals

Appendix A. Complex Numbers
Appendix B. Programs
Bibliography
Index

For people seeking to program Fractals or Chaos.......2002-03-27

This is a great book. Only until you work with it will you find how good it is. My favorite thing in this book is what the author calls contraction mirroring and is discussed in chapters 4,5,6,8.

A Classic of Fractals.......2001-07-29

In all my library of fractal books this one stands out as the most enlightening and the most useful. Hans Lauwerier is a master of Chaos and fractal theory. His method of analysis of IFS fractals is the best. He is just publishing a new book that should be rewarding as well.

A Excellent Introduction to Fractals.......2001-06-21

This book is nicely written, well-organized and beautifully illustrated. It introduces most of the standard topics with a minimum of math, for example, iterated function systems, chaos, Mandelbrot and Julia sets, and random fractals. Among introductory semi-formal treatments of fractals I have seen, it strikes the best balance between concision, simplicity, and mathematical detail.

However, this somewhat dated volume needs a revision to upgrade the code from Basic to, say, Java. When the book was first published, microcomputers were relatively weak. Consequently, the book makes a few digressions into some rather involved algorithms designed to minimize memory use. Of course, today's machines are much more powerful. It is a lot simpler to use recursion (although this uses up memory liberally) in the fractal programs.

Finally, I think that the geometry could be made conceptually cleaner by mentioning that a general similitude (of which a contraction mapping is one example) on the plane can be written as a composition of rotations, translations, reflections, and scalings.

For more substantial treatments of fractals that don't demand too much math background, see "Fractals Everywhere" by M. Barnsley and "Introduction to Fractals and Chaos" by R. Crownover. However, one should read Lauwerier's slim and elegant volume before and after studying these more advanced works--before, as an introduction, and after, as a delightful summary and "bird's eye view" of the subject.

Very nice book...short but packed full of information.......1999-10-19

This is a nice book that will start you on the wonderful world of fractals. Contains BASIC source code for you to try. Very informative, you'll learn about the history of fractals and shows you the many different ideas and mathematical insights about fractals. This is really a good starter book (though you need background in algebra and trigonometry to follow the math equations).

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Chatres: Sacred Geometry, Sacred Space
Gordon Strachan
Manufacturer: Floris Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0863153917

Book Description

In this ground-breaking new work, Gordon Strachan explores the magnificent structure of Chartres Cathedral and its influences on the medieval master builders. Using Chartres as a starting point, Dr. Strachan shows how the origins of the Gothic style—the pointed arch—may lie in Islamic architecture. He goes on to a fascinating and detailed consideration of how a particular architectural space affects us, and how sacred geometry creates sacred space.

Book Description

Christopher Alexander owns what many now believe to be the finest collection of early Turkish carpets in the western world, with perhaps half being the only specimens of their kind anywhere. In this richly illustrated, oversized volume--featuring four hundred illustrations, eighty in full color--Alexander takes readers on an engaging tour of his fabulous collection. Readers will see a 13th-century Seljuk Carpet with Dragons, a 15th-century Animal Carpet, a scarlet-niched Transylvanian Prayer Rug, a turquoise Lattice Carpet from Alcaraz, a 16th-century blue Medallion Keyhole Design from Bergama, a rare 16th-century White Field Bird Carpet, the dazzling color and brilliant geometry of a 15th-century Karapinar with Three Gulls, and perhaps Alexander's favorite, a 15th-century Star Karapinar with Flowers (whose designs he describes as "the high point of all Sufi art, the state of liberation, in which the artist is so free, that he is able to be completely natural"). In addition, Alexander elaborates on his theory that these carpets teach structure to artists and architects through the beauty of their form. This lavishly produced volume makes an important contribution to the world of rug scholarship. Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these pieces will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.

Customer Reviews:

A pearl of great value.......2006-05-20

I love and leave my books, but I'll never part with this one. I look at it daily and always find something new and edifying.

The book's raison d'etere is Alexander's magnificent collection, displayed in glorious photos. But if you feel frustrated/disgusted or uncomfortable/uneasy toward modern design, art, or architecture, you'll appreciate Alexander's axioms for objectively evaluating the aesthetic quality of the carpets. Alexander hopes that a generalized version of these axioms will save us from the ugliness of modernism and get human beings back into the business of creating truly beautiful things, whether carpets, buildings, comptuer programs, etc. That's why he titled it "A foreshadowing..."

Alexander comments on each carpet in the collection, describing the fascinating detective work that went into placing and dating each piece, as well as pointing out the most noteworthy elements of the patterns and colors. His commentary causes me to appreciate each carpet as a historical piece with tremendous significance to today -- the carpets are seemingly messengers from the past, reminding us of truths that have long been dormant in the human spirit.

He describes the best carpets as evoking a presence that is both human and divine. He says that a reliable way to judge the "better" of two carpets is to ask people which of the two they would choose to represent their own self or soul. Even carpet-naive people will consistently choose the more valuable carpet, even if it's not the one they "like" best. Interesting, right?

Great but not what you would expect.......2002-01-31

Christopher Alexander is known among architects and maybe even more among computer enthusiasts. If you are one of them (us) and know his other work, you would be surprised by this book.
It deals with carpets, specifically Turkish carpets.
A friend of mine lent me this book and I was fascinated. It has a certain passion for its subject and its interesting even if you don't know anything and don't care anything about carpets. Author explains about some items in his quite large collection of carpets and why he finds them not only rare and valuable as an antique but also beautiful.
The beauty of a carpet lies in its pattern and here we get to familiar grounds (as for example in his »A Pattern Language«). A pattern consists not only of the ornament but also of the negative space, the area remaining. He explains on examples from his collection. And one wanders if there is yet another application of his theory beside architecture per se, computer design and carpets.
Still its quite expensive, but if you happen to lay your hands on it, go ahead and enjoy.

One drawback..........2000-05-02

...shoddy binding.

Other than that, the book's great.

What I like about his writing is how relates the way your eye works to the way the carpets are designed and built. He yalks a lot about "centers" and about how a carpet can be that much more enjoyable when your eye can be drawn to sections which can be more-easily digested.

a quick & humble impression.......1998-02-15

I got to take a look at this book in the UMASS non-circulating collection. It was beautiful, covered with a gold patterned cloth. Inside, the paper and reproductions of the carpets and art work were of the very best quality. I read the introduction and skimmed through the subsequent chapters. After my breif encounter with this book, I felt as though I had found the secret heart of Alexander's architectural theories. Somehow his passion for these carpets seemed to be the kernal from which his volumes have sprung.

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