Description

Book Synopsis

Nearly a century before Mondrian made geometrical red, yellow, and blue lines famous, 19th-century mathematician Oliver Byrne employed the color scheme for his 1847 edition of Euclid’s mathematical and geometric treatise Elements. Byrne’s idea was to use color to make learning easier and “diffuse permanent knowledge.” The result has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.

The facsimile of Byrne’s seminal publication is now available in a beautiful new edition. A masterwork of art and science, it is as remarkable in the boldness of its red, yellow, and blue figures and diagrams as it is in the mathematical precision of its theories. In the simplicity of forms and colors, the pages anticipate the vigor of De Stijl and Bauhaus design. In making complex information at once accessible and aesthetically engaging, this work is a forerunner to the information graphics that today define much of our data consumption.



Trade Review
“Every graphic designer, book lover and math nerd will be awestruck.” * The New York Times *

Oliver Byrne. The First Six Books of the Elements

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    A Hardback by Werner Oechslin

    £38.00

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    RRP £40.00 – you save £2.00 (5%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 5 Oct 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Taschen GmbH
      Published 20 May 2022
      ISBN-13 9783836577380
      978-3836577380
      ISBN-10 3836577380
      Also in:
      Mathematics Euclidean geometry History of mathematics

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Nearly a century before Mondrian made geometrical red, yellow, and blue lines famous, 19th-century mathematician Oliver Byrne employed the color scheme for his 1847 edition of Euclid’s mathematical and geometric treatise Elements. Byrne’s idea was to use color to make learning easier and “diffuse permanent knowledge.” The result has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.

      The facsimile of Byrne’s seminal publication is now available in a beautiful new edition. A masterwork of art and science, it is as remarkable in the boldness of its red, yellow, and blue figures and diagrams as it is in the mathematical precision of its theories. In the simplicity of forms and colors, the pages anticipate the vigor of De Stijl and Bauhaus design. In making complex information at once accessible and aesthetically engaging, this work is a forerunner to the information graphics that today define much of our data consumption.



      Trade Review
      “Every graphic designer, book lover and math nerd will be awestruck.” * The New York Times *

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