Rating: 
Summary: An addictive adventure in the history of natural math.
Review: It was very difficult to put this book down. Not only does Schneider evince a love and profound knowledge of his material, but he communicates his passion to the reader with a clarity uncharacteristic of many math exposeurs. It is a perfect teaching vehicle for parents and their children to foster a heartfelt respect for the mathematical majesty of nature, using examples from cultural history across the globe. His discussion of music and symbolic geometry is especially enlightening. This book should be required reading for any and all educators. A wonderful read!
Rating:
Summary: thoroughly enjoyable and engaging
Review: It's a good thing they bound the book well, because I have put it to a good deal of use over the last few years, as have the numerous people who have come over to read it (because I won't let them leave my house with it!).The author manages to get me to pull out my compass and actually draw geometrical patterns and explore the often-unexpected relationships between different shapes & patterns. And his joy in the subject inspires me to see nature's patterns and relationships as well, which seems to be the main point of the book. A few reviewers seem to take at least some issue with some of the author's colorful ideas and statements, but I don't feel that they detract from the book in any powerful way, considering the author's intent to inspire fresh thinking in the student. Sometimes the best way to do this is to point to some unusual connections and coincidences. It's not a book about theorem and proof, but about falling in love with geometry (and in this it excels).
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Summary: Schneider gives art & design students a book to learn from
Review: Michael Schneider has given high school and college art and design students a book they can enjoy AND learn from, "Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe." Even international students with only basic English reading skills can appreciate and understand the contents. It is written in an understandable way and it's filled with wonderful and helpful illustrations that need no explanation. I'm sure that there will be a few scholars and post-Fermat mathematicians who will pooh-pooh Mr. Schneider's efforts, but I,for one, enjoyed the book...enough to use it for one of my texts for both graduate and undergraduate students in the art school where I teach philosophical geometry and linear perspective. Perhaps if there were more books like Mr. Schneider's on the market, our young students would not have some of the lowest reading levels in the world. Michael adeptly shows that dry old subjects like high school geometry have another far more interesting and dynamic side. He has brought an ancient realm of knowledge to the public's attention, and after the events of the last few months have shown in the media, we could all use a little turn of the head in other directions. Thank you, Mr. Michael Schneider, for refreshing the air.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddled Mathematical Mysticism
Review: Not a book for anyone seriously interested in the intrinsic beauties of math and the natural sciences. Some intriguing factsand suppositions buried amidst Pythagorean mysticism, numerology, and New Wave babble. There are enough factual errors to cast doubts on the whole text (for example, action/reaction is described as one of "Newton's laws of thermodynamics"). The author writes enthusiastically but has few math credentials and doesn't appear to be an informed amateur either. I expect to see a Website soon pointing out all the errors, but perhaps no one will take it that seriously. I really wanted to like this book, but I recommend trying a book by Martin Gardner or John Allen Paulos or A.K. Dewdney or Douglas Hofstadter instead.
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Summary: I failed geometry in high school and love this book.
Review: Start anywhere on this adventure. 3, 9, 7 whatever. It's like reading a blueprint of yourself. Reminds me of a cool drink of water on a hot day. Doing simple drawings really bring the words to life. Center of the circle tells quite the tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Spiritualism, not science
Review: The Beginner's Guide is loaded with many facts and pictures related to numbers. As a source book for the mystical and natural significant importance of numbers, the book is top-notch. As a book of math, the Beginner's Guide is a poor buy. There are no proofs and no formulas. Any given paragraph will likely have a spiritual context. If you are a numerologist, this book is a must-have. If you're a mathematician, this probably isn't the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Stretch your view of the world
Review: The relationship between mathematics and the natural world has been argued about for 100's of years and the philosophy of mathematics has great significance when one looks back through the development of civilization and social structure. If you are interested in looking past the quantitative nature of numbers and discovering the entangled web of basic mathematics and human development then I could not recommend a better book. This book is aimed at the generally inquisitive reader not the mathematics expert, there is little mathematics as we might recall from school. Instead Schneider draws on his considerable knowledge of history to give a whole new ( in fact ancient ) relevance to the numbers 1 to 10. There is nothing difficult in this book, it is written with the objective of enthusing the reader to look further rather than to teach. I have a degree in mathematics and struggled with some of the more esoteric spiritual areas of the book but in general I enjoyed the read. The flow of the text was easy to read and logical and text is backed up by a considerable number diagrams and pictures although the quality of some of the images is lost in the news print quality paper.
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Summary: Recounts the Hidden Role of Number in Art and Science
Review: This book is a labor of love...and discipline, and hard work. The quotations given on the wide margins of most pages are worth the price of admission alone. For instance, "The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal (William James). It is also the theme of the book. But that is only the beginning. There are at least two, to as many as ten, illustrations on each page, half being scientific, the other half artistic. My favorite combination is the splash crater of a milk drop on p. 11 and the Hindu deity Shiva Nataraj on p. 4. They form a complimentary pair visually and philosophically, both illustrating the monad, a generating center with a resultant circle of generated objects. In the next two chapters, two intersecting circles lead to the tension-filled dyad whose resolution is in the triad, which breaks the tension by allowing expansion to another dimension. In my words, this sounds a bit mystical and foggy, but Schneider provides just the right amount of background which carries you into the heart of the world of numbers, showing how they reflect both the scientific construction of the universe as well as artistic human creations. The longest chapter is on the number five, which remarkably leads to the spiral, and to the generation of life. These are very valuable insights, much to be pondered. This chapter also contains an excellent discussion of the Golden Mean, the number 1.618..., which is often found in nature as well as in human expeience. Just pick the book up sometime and glance at the quotations and illustrations. If you can resist buying it, you are a better man than I am.
Rating:
Summary: Relates Geometry to Life
Review: This is a very well written book that relates some basic concepts in geometry to science, architecture and life. Each of the ten chapters is about a geometric shape and Mr. Schneider shows how to construct it using only compass and straight-edge. The author begins every construction from a circle, and every line is shown as the intersection of two or more circles. This is consistent with his assertion in Chapter One that the circle is Unity, but I believe it is also more accurate geometrically.
Mr. Schneider gets into the Platonic Solids, explains the golden section and its use in architecture and nature, shows the regularity in nature and a lot more. This is a very educational book that covers a lot of ground, and does so in an entertaining way.
What I really like about the book is the author's ability to bring geometry to life. There are many diagrams, drawings and pictures which make it easy to follow the text.
The book is written for the layman, not the mathematician. If you are looking for a more rigorous introduction to geometry, try reading H.M.S. Coxeter (if you can!).
This book would be a nice companion to "The Power of Limits" by Doczi, 'The Geometry of Art and Life" by Ghyka, and "The Divine Proportion" by Huntley.
If I had to recommend only one book about geometry for the average reader, this book would be my first choice.
Rating:
Summary: Relates Geometry to Life
Review: This is a very well written book that relates some basic concepts in geometry to science, architecture and life. Each of the ten chapters is about a geometric shape and Mr. Schneider shows how to construct it using only compass and straight-edge. The author begins every construction from a circle, and every line is shown as the intersection of two or more circles. This is consistent with his assertion in Chapter One that the circle is Unity, but I believe it is also more accurate geometrically.
Mr. Schneider gets into the Platonic Solids, explains the golden section and its use in architecture and nature, shows the regularity in nature and a lot more. This is a very educational book that covers a lot of ground, and does so in an entertaining way.
What I really like about the book is the author's ability to bring geometry to life. There are many diagrams, drawings and pictures which make it easy to follow the text.
The book is written for the layman, not the mathematician. If you are looking for a more rigorous introduction to geometry, try reading H.M.S. Coxeter (if you can!).
This book would be a nice companion to "The Power of Limits" by Doczi, 'The Geometry of Art and Life" by Ghyka, and "The Divine Proportion" by Huntley.
If I had to recommend only one book about geometry for the average reader, this book would be my first choice.
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