Nature's Rhymes and Human Nature
An Exploration of Why the World Is So Beautiful
- Publisher's listprice GBP 16.99
-
7 670 Ft (7 305 Ft + 5% VAT)
The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.
- Discount 10% (cc. 767 Ft off)
- Discounted price 6 903 Ft (6 575 Ft + 5% VAT)
Subcribe now and take benefit of a favourable price.
Subscribe
7 670 Ft
Availability
cancelled
Why don't you give exact delivery time?
Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.
Product details:
- Publisher OUP Oxford
- Date of Publication 9 July 2026
- ISBN 9780198889571
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages256 pages
- Size 216x138 mm
- Language English 0
Categories
Short description:
This book explores why the world contains so much beauty, even though many of the things we find beautiful have no obvious utility to us. On his quest to discover why the world is so beautiful, Humphrey explores art, mathematics, and science, casting new light on the mental benefits of seeking out rhyming patterns in nature.
MoreLong description:
An intriguing and reflective exploration of the common beauty in art, mathematics, and science, and the mental benefits of their intrinsic rhyming patterns.
The world is beautiful. From rainbows and butterflies to piano sonatas and gothic architecture. But why do we love beauty? And why is the world so full of it? If our sense of beauty has evolved by natural selection, our ancestors must have benefited from being in the presence of things they found beautiful. Yet, surprisingly, much of the beauty is of no obvious utility to us.
In this path-breaking book, Nicholas Humphrey proposes that the benefits of being attracted to beauty are primarily cognitive rather than utilitarian: it's our minds that benefit. He opens with a discussion of the psychology of 'rhyme', showing how we take aesthetic pleasure not just in the rhymes of sounds but of shapes, objects, and even abstract ideas. With a masterly mix of philosophy and science, Nature's Rhymes and Human Nature shows how humans, and animals too, rely on detecting rhyming patterns to build a mental-model of the world. We need rhymes to nourish our minds, just as we need food to nourish our bodies.
Turning to 'aesthetic emotion', Humphrey considers the special feelings aroused in us by man-made beauty. If our appreciation of works of art depends on our channelling the emotions of the artist, how can we feel the same for a rainbow or a butterfly? Does it happen when we see nature as a work of art: the work of an intelligent Creator?
This intriguing exploration of the beauty in both nature and human nature casts new light on the mental benefits of seeking out the rhyming patterns all around us.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Argument from Beauty
Rhyme
Likeness and Difference
A Gallery
Real Excellence
He's Got the Whole World in his Hands
Chapter Seven
The Beauty of Knowing
'The Before Unapprehended Relations of Things'
How Monkeys Acquire a New Way of Seeing
The Sense of Order
The Cloud of Unknowing
Which Came First?
Value in a Wolrd of Facts
Significant Form in Nature
Pregnant Form
Beauty and the Brain
Why is the World so Beautiful?
