Geometry

Reviews / Votes

Michel Serres is one of the most original philosophers on our planet. Trained in mathematics and the philosophy of science, he straddles the divide between the "two cultures" of science and the humanities, and has developed a style of writing that eschews the usual trappings of academic prose. Geometry is ostensibly an analysis of the origins of geometry in ancient Greece, but in the process, it presents an entire philosophy of space and time, of the nature of science and knowledge, and even of their relations to politics and religion. This is Serres at his best: inventive, provocative, and profound. -- Daniel W. Smith, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University, USA This fine new translation of Michel Serres' third book of foundations, Geometry, shows him combining the concerns of his earlier work, on Lucretius and Leibniz, with the historical, mythological, and cultural themes prominent in the two previous books, Rome and Statues. Here he explores how innovation requires a return to a pre-history, before the installation of a current regime of inquiry, and he thus identifies multiple origins for geometry.

For those new to his work, this text provides an excellent introduction to the sheer range and exhilaration of his thinking. For those already intrigued, if puzzled, it provides indispensable linkages and insights into the distinctive and inimitable logic of his inquiries, in which the notion of 'foundation' itself undergoes a surprising metamorphosis. -- Joanna Hodge, Professor of Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK