Ancient architecture and mathematics: Methodology and the doric temple

Abstract

NFor researchers into mathematical aspects of architectural design a multi-faceted subject often referred to by the umbrella–term proportion it can be disconcerting how little weight is given to this field by some authorities on general architectural history. Sir John Summerson, for example, the author of the evergreen Classical Language of Architecture, impatiently dismissed most past thinking about proportion as “a vast amount of pretentious nonsense” (Summerson 1980: 8).