Geometry

C O N S I D E R:
Geometric shapes are created using straight lines and circles. The nature of geometry demands careful planning in order for lines to meet at a certain angle, for one arc to flow into another, to divide space equally, and to establish a regular pattern.

[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Form. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1988.]

"Geometry as we understand it, goes back to the ancient Egyptians. The word itself provides a clue to its origin and use: geo = land; metry = measure. The problem of "land-measure" arose every year because of the flooding of the Nile valley and the Egyptian practice of levying taxes according to the extent of land ownership. Egyptian surveyors evolved the ingenious device of the knotted cord, which led to a way of finding a right angle as a component of a right-angle triangle, making it possible to calculate nearly all sizes and shapes of arable land. But the Egyptians had more complex uses for geometry and the right-angle triangle in the great building and engineering projects of the Pharaohs and in the priestly art of numbers and astrology.

The knotted-cord-and-triangle idea was brought to Greece in the sixth century BC. Geometry was to the Greeks a divine exercise, an absolute and perfect way to create designs that were applicable in the building of temples, making exquisite pottery, creating statues of gods and heroes, and speculating on the essence of matter or the movements of the celestial bodies . . . . "

[Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]

R  E  F  E  R  E  N  C  E  S 

Geometric adj [14c] 1a: of, relating to, or according to the methods or principles of geometry b: increasing in a geometric progression [__ population growth] 2 cap: of or relating to a style of ancient Greek pottery characterized by geometric decorative motifs. 3a: utilizing rectilinear or simple curvilinear motifs or outlines in design b: of or relating to art based on simple geometric shapes [as straight lines, circles, or squares] [__ abstractions]

Geometric progression n [ca. 1856]: sequence [as 1, 1/2, 1/4] in which the ratio of a term to its predecessor is always the same --called also geometrical progression, geometric sequence

Geometrics n pl [1977]: decorative patterns or designs based on geometric shapes