A01=Ron Eglash
African culture
African designers
America
anthropology
architecture
artists
Author_Ron Eglash
biology
Category=JBCC
Category=PBMX
circles
circular dwellings
cities
computer graphics
computer simulations.
design themes
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Europe
ever-diminishing scales
fractal geometry
fractal structures
fractals
geology
geometric repetition
grid pattern
indigenous fractals
information technology
interviews
mathematics
modeling
natural sciences
rectangular walls
repetition
right-angle corners
scientists
similar patterns
straight streets
streets
traditional African settlements
Product details
- ISBN 9780813526140
- Weight: 540g
- Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
- Publication Date: 01 Mar 1999
- Publisher: Rutgers University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Fractals are characterized by the repetition of similar patterns at ever-diminishing scales. Fractal geometry has emerged as one of the most exciting frontiers on the border between mathematics and information technology and can be seen in many of the swirling patterns produced by computer graphics. It has become a new tool for modeling in biology, geology, and other natural sciences.
Anthropologists have observed that the patterns produced in different cultures can be characterized by specific design themes. In Europe and America, we often see cities laid out in a grid pattern of straight streets and right-angle corners. In contrast, traditional African settlements tend to use fractal structures-circles of circles of circular dwellings, rectangular walls enclosing ever-smaller rectangles, and streets in which broad avenues branch down to tiny footpaths with striking geometric repetition. These indigenous fractals are not limited to architecture; their recursive patterns echo throughout many disparate African designs and knowledge systems.
Drawing on interviews with African designers, artists, and scientists, Ron Eglash investigates fractals in African architecture, traditional hairstyling, textiles, sculpture, painting, carving, metalwork, religion, games, practical craft, quantitative techniques, and symbolic systems. He also examines the political and social implications of the existence of African fractal geometry. His book makes a unique contribution to the study of mathematics, African culture, anthropology, and computer simulations.
Anthropologists have observed that the patterns produced in different cultures can be characterized by specific design themes. In Europe and America, we often see cities laid out in a grid pattern of straight streets and right-angle corners. In contrast, traditional African settlements tend to use fractal structures-circles of circles of circular dwellings, rectangular walls enclosing ever-smaller rectangles, and streets in which broad avenues branch down to tiny footpaths with striking geometric repetition. These indigenous fractals are not limited to architecture; their recursive patterns echo throughout many disparate African designs and knowledge systems.
Drawing on interviews with African designers, artists, and scientists, Ron Eglash investigates fractals in African architecture, traditional hairstyling, textiles, sculpture, painting, carving, metalwork, religion, games, practical craft, quantitative techniques, and symbolic systems. He also examines the political and social implications of the existence of African fractal geometry. His book makes a unique contribution to the study of mathematics, African culture, anthropology, and computer simulations.
Ron Eglash recieved a bachelor of science degree in cybernetics and his master of science in systems engineering, and he worked at National Semiconductor as a human factors engineer. He returned to the University of California for a doctorate on the cultural analysis of science and technology from the Board of Studies in History in Conciousness, and after graduating recieved a Fulbright scholarship for research in ethnomathematics at the University of Dakar in Senegal. He is currently an assistant professor at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.
