The Beauty of Mathematical Order: A Study of the Role of Mathematics in Greek Philosophy and the Modern Artworks of Piet Hein and Inger Christensen

The first part interprets the close connection between beauty and mathematical order in Greek philosophy. It is argued that especially geometry is paradigmatic for the Greek comprehension of beauty because it aptly gives the finite sensuous human being access to a practice in which to create forms that are analogous to the beauty of cosmos. As modern natural science discards the Greek finite and geocentric world view the neat interconnection between mathematical order and beauty is shaken. In the second part Piet Hein and Inger Christensen are discussed as examples of using mathematical order to further beauty in modern design and art. Whereas Hein augments nature in his design of the super-ellipse form, Christensen points towards the limits of the humanly re-creation of nature by means of modern science and technology.