Book Description (from the publisher)
For those who know where to look, the principles that guide the construction of our world are plain to see, in everything from cucumbers to cathedrals. This spectacular volume shows us exactly where we can look - in our buildings, our language, our myths, our environment, even our own bodies - to behold the myriad ways in which the numbers one through ten serve as the universe's blueprint. Modern scientists are reaffirming what the ancients observed in their world and taught in their myths: that a consistent language of geometric design underpins every level of the universe, from atoms through galaxies. Michael Schneider translates that surpassingly eloquent language in lyrical, straightforward prose and hundreds of eye-opening illustrations. Here we learn, for example, why circles have come to symbolize perfection, why triangles are associated with divinity and balance, why squares represent generation and pentads regeneration, why multiples of six are used to measure time and space, and why seven has always been associated with mystery. Schneider makes the abstract real with dozens of easy exercises the reader can do using pencil, paper, compass, and straightedge that demonstrate how our astonishingly intricate world unfolds from the pure simplicity of nature's geometry. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe combines science, philosophy, and common sense in a thoroughly novel way, showing us the world's wonder and harmony hidden in familiar places, a wisdom neither ancient nor New Age but timeless.

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