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Universe of Stone: Chartres Cathedral and the Triumph of the Medieval Mind

Philip Ball

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Published by Vintage, part of Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback

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EAN: 9780099499442
Published: 30 Apr 2009

About the book

Synopsis

In the twelfth century, Christians in Europe began to build a completely new kind of church - soaring, spacious monuments flooded with light from immense windows. These were the first Gothic churches, the crowning example of which was the cathedral of Chartres: a revolution in thought embodied in stone and glass, and a bridge between the ancient and modern worlds.

In Universe of Stone, Philip Ball explains the genesis and development of the Gothic style. He argues that it signified a profound change in the social, intellectual and theological climate of Western Christendom. As the church represented nothing less than a vision of heaven on earth, this shift in architectural style marked the beginning of the argument between faith and reason which continues today, and of a scientific view of the world that threatened to dispense with God altogether.

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What the critics say

[Ball] has a knack for translating difficult concepts into lucid prose: he offers a refreshingly sceptical guided tour of Chartres Cathedral and the intellectual contents that helped produce it
- Daily Telegraph

Lucid and resplendent...a model of explanatory writing
- Sunday Times

Consistently and healthily sceptical ... an intelligent, enjoyable and well-produced book which deserves a wide audience
- Times Literary Supplement

An original and imaginative synthesis of art history and history of science
- History Today

Lucid and resplendent
- The Times

Riveting
- Sunday Telegraph

[A] richly rewarding book
- Independent

Illuminating... a masterpiece. The erudition with which Ball imparts his knowledge does nothing to diminish his sense of wonder
- Observer

Philip Ball has done something extraordinary here: he's got me interested in cathedrals
- Evening Standard

Thoughtfully designed book
- Irish Times

By this author

About the Author

Philip Ball is a freelance writer and a consultant editor for Nature, where he previously worked as an editor for physical sciences. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media, and his many books on scientific subjects include Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To Another, which won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. His latest books include The Music Instinct, Universe of Stone: Chartres Cathedral and the Triumph of the Medieval Mind, and, most recently, Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People. Philip obtained a PhD in physics from the University of Bristol.