'WHAT TO READ IN 2025' FINANCIAL TIMES Many artists are 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 but what if we're
wrong? Marcus du Sautoy acclaimed mathematician and Simonyi Professor for the Public
Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford looks to art music design and
literature to uncover the key mathematical structures that underpin both human creativity and
the natural world. Blueprints takes us from the earliest stone circles to the modernist
architecture of Le Corbusier from Bach's circular compositions to Radiohead's disruptive
soundscapes and from Shakespeare's hidden numerical clues to the Dada artists who embraced
randomness. Instead of polar opposites we find a complementary relationship that spans a vast
historical and geographic landscape. Whether we are searching for meaning in an abstract
painting or deciphering poetry there are blueprints everywhere: prime numbers symmetry
fractals and the weirder worlds of Hamiltonian cycles and hyperbolic geometry. Nature similarly
exploits these structures to achieve the wonders of our universe. In this innovative and
delightfully bold exploration of creativity Marcus explains 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. ' Blueprints is an extraordinary book
which shows us how mathematics and art are connected through structures. Du Sautoy shows us how
to bridge the divide of science and the humanities and proves that we can only face and solve
the big challenges of the twenty-first century if we go beyond the fear of pooling knowledge'
Hans Ulrich Obrist Artistic Director Serpentine Galleries
