From Wikipedia in 07-Feb-2012
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty
Beauty (also called prettiness, loveliness or comeliness) is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An “ideal beauty” is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.
The experience of “beauty” often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being. Because this is a subjective experience, it is often said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
There is evidence that perceptions of beauty are evolutionarily determined, that things, aspects of people and landscapes considered beautiful are typically found in situations likely to give enhanced survival of the perceiving human’s genes.
My Own Writing
Definition
Beauty is the experience of aesthetic pleasure. Unfortunately, this definition is necessarily circular, since aesthetic pleasure is what you feel when you experience beauty.
Human Beauty
Science has actually studied the concept of human beauty. It turns out that in cultures all over the world, certain features are considered beautiful nearly universally, such as symmetry, smooth unblemished skin, and in women, a waist-to-hip ratio of about 0.7. The theory is that these traits indicate fertility and genetic fitness, which increases the chances of producing healthy offspring.
Natural Beauty