Intimate Triangle by Jeanne Spielman Rubin

The Architecture of Crystals, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Froebel Kindergarten by Jeanne Spielman Rubin. A delightful and useful work which clearly outlines the connections between the science of crystallography, early childhood education, and the arts of the twentieth century. Hardcover, 327 pages. 2002, Polycrystal Book Service

Excerpts from published reviews:

My admiration for Intimate Triangle ... is unbounded, for there is so much to be learned here; This is one of those rare books that enters the list of essential reading for those wishing to understand Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture. Rubin has given us a complete explication of one aspect of Wright's creativity upon which others have touched only glancingly. ~ William Storrer, FLlW Update A very useful book; Froebel's kindergarten emerges as never before as a prime germinating factor for the arts and sciences of the twentieth century ~ Vincent Scully, Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, Yale University. Rubin, who first recognized that the Professor Weiss in Froebel's autobiography was the famous Christian Samuel, established the Froebel crystallography connection; Rubin's book is based upon 30 years of original and painstaking research, some of which made its way into Inventing Kindergarten. Intimate Triangle has a more consistent crystallographic focus. I recommend them both with great enthusiasm to any crystallographer. ~ Crystal Growth & Design Inspired research intellectually stimulating; a delightful and immediately useful connection between the science of crystallography, early childhood education, and the practical art of architecture ~ Alan Friedman, Director of the New York Hall of Science Provides insights not elsewhere discoverable; Rubin has done what no other writer has, namely, discovered the root source of Froebel education principles in Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. Every serious architect and every dedicated educator should read her book. ~ William Storrer, author of The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion. Very special thanks to Jeanne S. Rubin for being more knowledgeable about the importance of the kindergarten than anyone else, and for allowing me to publish some of her research; thirty-odd years of kindergarten research ... clarifies the Wright-Froebel-crystallography connection so definitively ~ Norman Brosterman, Inventing Kindergarten Elegantly written ... reads like a well-composed mystery novel ... the most important book to date written on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright ... an amazing exposition on the importance of early childhood education ~ Jetsetmodern.com

About the author: Jeanne Spielman Rubin, emeritus professor, Kent State University, has long been interested in connections between the arts and other disciplines. Founder and director of the Suzuki program for young children at Kent State, this started a five-decade exploration of Froebel's Kindergarten, and its connections to crystallography and the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.