Fourth Estate Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity | Paperback | English

Explore the profound, often unseen, connection between mathematics and human creativity in Blueprints by Marcus du Sautoy. This book challenges the common perception that art and science are incompatible, revealing the fundamental mathematical structures that underpin creativity across art, music, design, and literature.

Marcus du Sautoy, acclaimed mathematician and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, guides readers through a vast historical and geographic landscape, demonstrating how concepts like prime numbers, symmetry, fractals, Hamiltonian cycles, and hyperbolic geometry serve as blueprints in both creative works and the natural world.

• Uncovers the key mathematical structures underpinning human creativity and the natural world.
• Traces connections from early stone circles to modernist architecture (Le Corbusier).
• Examines musical composition (Bach) alongside modern soundscapes (Radiohead).
• Investigates numerical clues in literature (Shakespeare) and the embrace of randomness by Dada artists.
• Explains how nature exploits these mathematical structures to achieve universal wonders.
• Argues for the vital role of a creative mindset in discovering new mathematics.

Recognized as a Financial Times and Waterstones Book of the Year 2025.

• Author: Marcus du Sautoy
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Color: Four-color
• Print Length: 384 pages
• ISBN-10: 0008685037
• ISBN-13: 978-0008685034
• Dimensions: 129 x 32 x 198mm (12.9 x 3.2 x 19.8 cm)
• Weight: 330 g
• Publication Date: May 7, 2026

This innovative exploration bridges the divide between science and the humanities, suggesting that pooling knowledge is essential for solving the challenges of the twenty-first century.