Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Can the Beauty of Nature Be Objectified?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover The Computability of the World

Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection ((FRONTCOLL))

  • 1263 Accesses

Abstract

Beauty is true, truth is beauty. This famous dictum, propounded by the poet John Keats, expresses a view that is shared by many scientists. Is there really an objectifiable connection between beauty and truth? Can one put the idea of the beauty of Nature onto a scientific foundation? Can we even find laws underlying natural beauty?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Einstein, A. Infeld, L.: The Evolution of Physics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2(1978)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hardy, G.H.: A Mathematican’s Apology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Heisenberg, W.: Die Bedeutung des Schönen in der exakten Naturwissenschaft. Gesammelte Werke/Collected Works. Abteilung/Series C. Piper, München (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Huntley, H.E.: The Divine Proportion. Dover, New York (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Peitgen, H.-O., Richter, P.H.: The Beauty of Fractals. Springer, New York (1986)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Peitgen, H.-O., Saupe, D. (eds.): The Science of Fractal Images. Springer, New York (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Poincaré, H.: Science and methode. In: The Foundations of Science. The Science Press. New York/Garrison (1913). [Original: Cience et Méthode, 1908]

    Google Scholar 

  8. Prusinkiewicz, P., Lindenmayer, A.: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants. Springer, New York (1990)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Reif, F.: Statistical Physics. McGraw-Hill, New York (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Richter, P.H., Schranner, R.: Leaf arrangement-geometry, morphogenesis, and classification. The Science of Nature (Naturwissenschaften) 65, 319–327 (1978)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Munich, Germany

    Bernd-Olaf Küppers

Authors
  1. Bernd-Olaf Küppers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernd-Olaf Küppers .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Küppers, BO. (2018). Can the Beauty of Nature Be Objectified?. In: The Computability of the World. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67369-1_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation