A Moving Image of Eternity

About the Book

Plato’s Timaeus is the most comprehensive argument in history for a universe devised and created by God; yet, paradoxically, it is probably the least understood of all the creation stories. No doubt this is because much of the argument is composed in mathematical and geometric terms that are cryptic and extremely difficult to follow. Still, Timaeus has been widely read and is much admired to this day, though it is still fraught with considerable difficulties of interpretation and understanding. In this book, the author provides detailed insights into Timaeus’s mathematics and geometry, and finds in them a unified plan that underlies all of creation. This plan not only provides for the design of the universe, but it also guides its operations to this day. Thus, the plan is eternal and fundamental to the continued functioning of the universe, and it is something that can readily be discerned in our daily lives, from our measures of time and distance to our concepts of harmony and beauty—all of which have their roots in mathematics and geometry.

About the Author

Richard Ford is a graduate of the USCGA and a career Coast Guard officer, and among his experiences was becoming adept at celestial navigation--a time-honored practical application of astronomy. He has studied ancient architecture extensively for many years, where he identified numerous mathematical concepts and geometrical shapes that were reflections of a much large cosmic order. It was in this area of study that he grew to understand the importance of patterns in the cosmos. Over the years, as many before him, he developed a fascination with Plato’s Timaeus, which grew with time, until its relationship to the cosmic patterns he was studying gradually dawned on him. Much of what he had learned over several decades was also present in Timaeus and he decided that it was so important that he determined to understand the mathematical and geometric portions of the Timaeus text. As its detail began to emerge, he realized that not only was this work directly related to his own efforts, but it underlay all of it and, as Timaeus states, it is the foundational basis for all of creation.