false 3496916 1 <p> Chartres Cathedral, south of Paris, is revered as one of the most beautiful and profound works of art in the Western canon. But what did it mean to those who constructed it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries? And why, during this time, did Europeans begin to build churches in a new style, at such immense height and with such glorious play of light, in the soaring manner we now call Gothic? </p> <p> <i>Universe of Stone</i> shows that the Gothic cathedrals encode a far-reaching shift in the way medieval thinkers perceived their relationship with their world. For the first time, they began to believe in an orderly, rational world that could be investigated and understood. This change marked the beginning of Western science and also the start of a long and, indeed, unfinished struggle to reconcile faith and reason. </p> <p> By embedding the cathedral in the culture of the twelfth century&#8212;its schools of philosophy and science, its trades and technologies, its politics and religious debates&#8212;Philip Ball makes sense of the visual and emotional power of Chartres. Beautifully illustrated and written, filled with astonishing insight, <i>Universe of Stone</i> argues that Chartres is a sublime expression of the originality and vitality of a true "first renaissance," one that occurred long before the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Francis Bacon. </p> 3538526 1 7 2008 Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral total:10|5:1|4:3|3:4|2:1|1:1| 10 32 31 6 5 0 false false Wed Sep 16 09:07:54 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 09:16:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 26 13:45:05 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 13:47:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 18 18:42:05 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 18:42:51 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Nov 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Aug 30 15:46:09 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 08 09:25:56 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sun Sep 21 06:30:40 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 05 08:37:54 -0700 2008 More of a review of medieval philosphy than about the cathedral]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 30 01:07:36 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 01:08:44 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Thu Oct 01 22:05:50 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 09:48:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 28 16:09:04 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 16:09:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 27 10:58:07 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 10:58:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 03 14:15:34 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 14:15:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jun 23 18:11:52 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 09:16:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 22 14:44:28 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 14:44:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 18:30:12 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 20:11:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat May 23 15:49:14 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 22:04:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Apr 26 16:33:22 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 16:33:22 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon May 11 05:56:04 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 09:54:06 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 05:56:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 24 01:37:58 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 01:38:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Mar 04 11:06:10 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 06 13:10:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 26 18:13:04 -0800 2008 Mon Jun 08 12:45:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 20 12:25:11 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 12:25:12 -0800 2008