September 5, 2011
While many people are happy to simply appreciate nature’s beauty, Rothenberg seeks to understand why beauty exists in the first place, and what that means to our existence. Evolution and mutation determine what features are passed on in each species, but nature also offers “case after case of wild, untrammeled craziness,” patterns, colors, and behavior that are clearly not needed for survival. Rothenberg notes with amusement how Darwin thought ornamentation—colorful feathers, brilliant songs, mating dances—existed to “delight the mind” of potential mates, throwing evolutionary control into female hands, an idea that didn’t sit well with Victorians. Rothenberg goes on to discuss how animal patterns (animal art) have influenced human creativity in cubist and abstract art as well as military camouflage. Not many authors could find a way to interweave abstruse art theory with discussions of squid and their glorious “dynamic tattoos,” elephants who paint, and Paleolithic cave art, but Rothenberg succeeds, with this entertaining wander through the world of art and the places where it intersects science. 16 pages of color illus.; b&w illus.
September 1, 2011
A philosopher and musician proposes that art is important to nature and that a deeper consideration of art in nature can enhance not only our understanding of evolution but of art itself.
Rothenberg (Philosophy and Music/New Jersey Institute of Technology), who has explored the mystery of bird songs (Why Birds Sing, 2005) and the songs of whales (Thousand Mile Song, 2008), now takes up a broader question: How can the existence of art and beauty in nature be explained? He launches his investigation by introducing bowerbirds, whose artwork he feels makes art more necessary to evolution then if only humans produced it. "Each species," he writes, "has its own aesthetic, which defines what colors, sounds, and shapes its members desire." Rothenberg finds support for his views in the work of Yale's Richard Prum, curator of birds at the Peabody Museum, who argues that beauty has been overlooked in the study of evolution. The author quotes Prum extensively on the co-evolution of appearance/performance by males and appreciation/taste in females. Thus evolution produces results that are not only practical but also beautiful. Natural selection, writes Rothenberg, is simply not sufficient to explain what nature shows us. The author also examines how beauty comes out of form and is built up out of the basic laws of physics and chemistry. Understanding this sharpens our human eyes whether we are art creators or art viewers. A special appeal of this book is the illustrations—of the elaborate bowers created by bowerbirds, of striking variations in feather patterns and of amazing examples of animal camouflage. Rothenberg does not omit human art, either, examining prehistoric drawings discovered in the Cave of the Three Brothers in France, as well as cubist paintings, scientific drawings and contemporary sculpture.
A fun, freewheeling discussion of the role of aesthetics in evolution and a celebration of the beauty to be found in the great diversity of life.
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October 1, 2011
A trained musician, Rothenberg (philosophy & music, New Jersey Inst. of Technology; Thousand-Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound) became curious about the aesthetics of animals as he shared duets with aviary birds. As he considered extravagant beauty, like birdsong, Rothenberg came to question scientists' traditional insistence that evolution serves functionality. In contrast, Rothenberg proposes the idea of aesthetic selection, whereby all living beings favor natural beauty regardless of functionality. Working on this theme, Rothenberg leads readers through Darwinian theory, neuroscience, and modern and prehistoric art. His all-encompassing book recalls the work of writers from a variety of disciplines--David Quammen, for instance, who parses Darwinian theory in The Song of the Dodo, and Elaine Scarry, whose On Beauty and Being Just is a crisp treatise on beauty. Ultimately, Rothenberg demonstrates the merits of gathering these strands together through interdisciplinary collaboration. VERDICT Though readers may sometimes feel assaulted by questions as they read this book, they will almost certainly find something that challenges their perspective on the world. Recommended for those with eclectic interests and a penchant for philosophy.--Talea Anderson, Walla Walla, WA
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