Blueprints

Marcus du Sautoy, the acclaimed mathematician and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, looks to the arts to uncover the key mathematical structures that underpin both human creativity and the natural world. 'WHAT TO READ IN 2025' FINANCIAL TIMES Many of the artists that we encounter are completely unaware of the mathematics that bubble beneath their craft, while some consciously use it for inspiration. Our instincts might tell us that these two subjects are incompatible forces with nothing in common - mathematics being the realm of precise logic and art being the realm of emotion and aesthetics - but what if we're wrong? Blueprints asks us to consider that mathematics and art may not be polar opposites after all. Their complementary relationship spans a vast historical and geographic landscape, from the earliest stone circles to Mozart's obsession with numbers and the radically modern architecture of Zaha Hadid. Whether we are searching for meaning in an abstract painting or finding patterns in poetry, there are blueprints everywhere: symmetry, prime numbers, the golden ratio and more. In this bold and philosophical exploration of human creativity, Marcus du Sautoy unpacks how we make art, why a creative mindset is vital for discovering new mathematics, and how a fundamental connection to the natural world intrinsically links these two subjects.

Marcus du Sautoy is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a fellow of the Royal Society. In 2008 he was appointed to the university's prestigious professorship as the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins. He has presented numerous radio and TV programmes, including a four-part landmark TV series for the BBC called The Story of Maths. He works extensively with a range of arts organisations bringing science alive for the public, from the Royal Opera House to the Glastonbury Festival and from Complicité theatre company to Serpentine Galleries.