In the twelfth century, Christians in Europe began to build a completely new kind of church – not the squat, gloomy buildings we now call Romanesque, but soaring, spacious monuments flooded with light from immense windows. These were the first Gothic churches, the crowning example of which was the cathedral of Chartres: a revolution in thought embodied in stone and glass; a philosophy made concrete through the co-operation of theologians, craftsmen and engineers; and a bridge between the ancient and modern worlds. In Universe of Stone Philip Ball explains the genesis and development of the Gothic style. He argues that it signified a profound change in the social, intellectual and theological climate of Western Christendom. As the church represented nothing less than a vision of heaven on earth, this shift in architectural style marked the beginning of the argument between faith and reason which continues today, and of a scientific view of the world that threatened to dispense with God altogether.
‘(Ball) has a knack for translating difficult concepts into lucid prose: he offers a refreshingly sceptical guided tour of Chartres Cathedral and the intellectual contents that helped produce it"Daily Telegraph
‘A model of explanatory writing… after finishing Ball's book, the impulse to catch the next Eurostar and head out to Chartres is strong" John Carey, Sunday Times
