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La Symétrie ou les maths au clair de Lune
«La science avance grâce aux questions auxquelles nous ne sommes pas en mesure de répondre.»
Qu'y a-t-il de commun entre un flocon de neige, une mosaïque et un rayon de miel ? Leur symétrie, source constante de fascination pour les mathématiciens depuis des millénaires. Car au-delà de ce que l'oeil perçoit, au-delà des illusions d'optique et des mirages, des nombres invisibles unissent tous ces curieux objets symétriques.
Avec l'humour pour sésame, Marcus du Sautoy nous entraîne dans la prodigieuse histoire de ce pan des mathématiques. Il nous raconte les impasses et découvertes fulgurantes de ces chercheurs -les Escher, Gauss, Cauchy-, acariâtres parfois, excentriques souvent, autistes même, qui se sont battus pour trouver les clés de ces équations. Voyage insolite au coeur du langage intrigant de la symétrie, cet essai déchiffre une science qui tente de percer les secrets de la nature - la beauté et la complexité du monde.
Qu'y a-t-il de commun entre un flocon de neige, une mosaïque et un rayon de miel ? Leur symétrie, source constante de fascination pour les mathématiciens depuis des millénaires. Car au-delà de ce que l'oeil perçoit, au-delà des illusions d'optique et des mirages, des nombres invisibles unissent tous ces curieux objets symétriques.
Avec l'humour pour sésame, Marcus du Sautoy nous entraîne dans la prodigieuse histoire de ce pan des mathématiques. Il nous raconte les impasses et découvertes fulgurantes de ces chercheurs -les Escher, Gauss, Cauchy-, acariâtres parfois, excentriques souvent, autistes même, qui se sont battus pour trouver les clés de ces équations. Voyage insolite au coeur du langage intrigant de la symétrie, cet essai déchiffre une science qui tente de percer les secrets de la nature - la beauté et la complexité du monde.
519 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Marcus du Sautoy
35 books502 followersMarcus Peter Francis du Sautoy, OBE is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
August 10, 2015
Symmetry is all around us. Our eyes and minds are drawn to symmetrical objects, from the pyramid to the pentagon. Of fundamental significance to the way we interpret the world, this unique, pervasive phenomenon indicates a dynamic relationship between objects. In chemistry and physics, the concept of symmetry explains the structure of crystals or the theory of fundamental particles; in evolutionary biology, the natural world exploits symmetry in the fight for survival; and symmetry—and the breaking of it—is central to ideas in art, architecture, and music.
Combining a rich historical narrative with his own personal journey as a mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy takes a unique look into the mathematical mind as he explores deep conjectures about symmetry and brings us face-to-face with the oddball mathematicians, both past and present, who have battled to understand symmetry's elusive qualities. He explores what is perhaps the most exciting discovery to date—the summit of mathematicians' mastery in the field—the Monster, a huge snowflake that exists in 196,883-dimensional space with more symmetries than there are atoms in the sun.
What is it like to solve an ancient mathematical problem in a flash of inspiration? What is it like to be shown, ten minutes later, that you've made a mistake? What is it like to see the world in mathematical terms, and what can that tell us about life itself? In Symmetry, Marcus du Sautoy investigates these questions and shows mathematical novices what it feels like to grapple with some of the most complex ideas the human mind can comprehend.
Combining a rich historical narrative with his own personal journey as a mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy takes a unique look into the mathematical mind as he explores deep conjectures about symmetry and brings us face-to-face with the oddball mathematicians, both past and present, who have battled to understand symmetry's elusive qualities. He explores what is perhaps the most exciting discovery to date—the summit of mathematicians' mastery in the field—the Monster, a huge snowflake that exists in 196,883-dimensional space with more symmetries than there are atoms in the sun.
What is it like to solve an ancient mathematical problem in a flash of inspiration? What is it like to be shown, ten minutes later, that you've made a mistake? What is it like to see the world in mathematical terms, and what can that tell us about life itself? In Symmetry, Marcus du Sautoy investigates these questions and shows mathematical novices what it feels like to grapple with some of the most complex ideas the human mind can comprehend.
August 22, 2017
First off - be patient with me, still getting the hang of reviews on Goodreads...
I finished this book a while ago and mulled it for awhile, and just read through some of the other reviews and comments, which confirmed some of my delights and my frustrations.
Marcus du Sautoy is very good at explaining the historical and biographical background of the mathematical field. For about the first half of this book, he managed to do this in a really compelling way by showing the gradual development of the concept of symmetry. Perhaps my favorite spot was when he talked about the 17 distinct types of tiling symmetry and went hunting for them with his son at the Alhambra.
As the timeline moved into more recent abstract approaches, the material obviously became less directly accessible to non-mathematical audiences (I am at best a punter in that realm). You can't really fault the author for that, or for starting to include less direct math once we are talking about constructions like the Monster.
I'm afraid the real irritation for me was the lackadaisical way that the author's personal story was woven into the book. It purports to be, not just his own autobiographical thread (which would be an interesting read as a memoir), but also a more focused "year in the life of" where we see him tackling a very abstruse contemporary problem in symmetry.
Presumably the structure might have been something like this: a historical view of the thread of symmetry through the larger field of mathematics, gradually converging with the story of his own research. By the end of the book, we would have been given the historical background to understand, at least in layman's terms, the nature of the problem he is working on; his own personal arc, so we see what it means to him to work on it - and there would be some sort of narrative integration of these threads at the end. But the author clearly ran out of steam, or hit a deadline, or seemingly just didn't know how to finish it. At the end I felt like I'd read a historical mystery with no denouement, where you say: "Well, at least I learned something about 18th century table manners..."
Maybe that's a bit harsh, because what I learned along the way here was really intriguing in parts. I picked the book up because I wanted a deeper look at symmetry - in my case to see ways to apply it in other fields, like music. So I did appreciate the detail. I just wish it had been tied together more effectively as an actual work of literature - which non-fiction books still must be, in my opinion.
I finished this book a while ago and mulled it for awhile, and just read through some of the other reviews and comments, which confirmed some of my delights and my frustrations.
Marcus du Sautoy is very good at explaining the historical and biographical background of the mathematical field. For about the first half of this book, he managed to do this in a really compelling way by showing the gradual development of the concept of symmetry. Perhaps my favorite spot was when he talked about the 17 distinct types of tiling symmetry and went hunting for them with his son at the Alhambra.
As the timeline moved into more recent abstract approaches, the material obviously became less directly accessible to non-mathematical audiences (I am at best a punter in that realm). You can't really fault the author for that, or for starting to include less direct math once we are talking about constructions like the Monster.
I'm afraid the real irritation for me was the lackadaisical way that the author's personal story was woven into the book. It purports to be, not just his own autobiographical thread (which would be an interesting read as a memoir), but also a more focused "year in the life of" where we see him tackling a very abstruse contemporary problem in symmetry.
Presumably the structure might have been something like this: a historical view of the thread of symmetry through the larger field of mathematics, gradually converging with the story of his own research. By the end of the book, we would have been given the historical background to understand, at least in layman's terms, the nature of the problem he is working on; his own personal arc, so we see what it means to him to work on it - and there would be some sort of narrative integration of these threads at the end. But the author clearly ran out of steam, or hit a deadline, or seemingly just didn't know how to finish it. At the end I felt like I'd read a historical mystery with no denouement, where you say: "Well, at least I learned something about 18th century table manners..."
Maybe that's a bit harsh, because what I learned along the way here was really intriguing in parts. I picked the book up because I wanted a deeper look at symmetry - in my case to see ways to apply it in other fields, like music. So I did appreciate the detail. I just wish it had been tied together more effectively as an actual work of literature - which non-fiction books still must be, in my opinion.
March 28, 2019
This is not just a book about the mathematical theory of symmetry (a.k.a. Group Theory), but also stories about the author's own life, and the history of people and ideas during the development of the theory. Normally I prefer my math/science books to be only about the math or science and get annoyed when they talk about the lives of the people who discovered the ideas. But in this case it works for me. In part because the mathematicians involved had such interesting, and often tragic, stories.
I studied basic Group Theory in graduate school and found it fascinating. A book like this makes me want to learn more. But an hour or two spent on Wikipedia convinces me that I really don't want to go there. My mind would explode. You need the kind of brain that can effortlessly memorize 1000 digits of pi, or the bus schedule for every bus in England, things which du Sautoy's colleagues have done. Nope. I'll stop here!
I studied basic Group Theory in graduate school and found it fascinating. A book like this makes me want to learn more. But an hour or two spent on Wikipedia convinces me that I really don't want to go there. My mind would explode. You need the kind of brain that can effortlessly memorize 1000 digits of pi, or the bus schedule for every bus in England, things which du Sautoy's colleagues have done. Nope. I'll stop here!
January 3, 2016
In October 2008, Marcus du Sautoy was appointed to the Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science, succeeding the inaugural holder Richard Dawkins.
March 17, 2010
Symmmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature shows a lot of potential. There simply aren't many books targeted to a lay audience exploring the complex concept of symmetry. But does Sautoy deliver a successful and accessible tome outlining symmetry and the nature of mathematical patterns?
Pros: Well designed cover; Interesting topic; Fusion of math & memoir
Cons: Condescending tone; Frequent redundancies; Lack of preface
Like most recent science and math books, Symmetry is divided into chapters with accurate and descriptive subheadings within each chapter. There are twelve chapters in all, each titled with a different month, representing the author's personal journey to turning 40 and beyond.
While this is a somewhat novel arrangement for a math book, what Symmetry lacks is a preface. A preface is much appreciated at the outset of a work of non-fiction. The preface typically serves to introduce the topic at hand, as well as to provide a helpful lesson to the reader regarding any technical terms and jargon necessary to the understand the remainder of the book.
Despite the lack of a preface, Sautoy does briefly define, or provide an illustration for, each of the higher level mathematical terms as they are discussed. However, even with this assistance from the author some concepts are just too advanced for a general popular readership.
One such concept is the idea of greater than three-dimensional objects and space. While this concept may indeed be too difficult for all of Symmetry's readers to grasp, Sautoy's condescending tone when discussing multi-dimensional objects is wholly unnecessary and made me want to put the book down and not pick it up again.
Another flaw impairing the overall readability is the repetitiveness of certain observations from Sautoy's mentors. While these observations are undoubtably important to Sautoy and to the concept at hand, Symmetry's audience should be given some credit. It is a rare reader that forgets what occured in Chapter 1 before completing Chapter 2, and likewise for Chapters 2 and 3.
Symmetry is also nearly entirely lacking in footnotes but it does have an endnotes and a futher reading section at its conclusion which could be helpful for higher-level math students doing research projects.
This book is only recommended for those with an advanced understanding of higher level mathematics and readers with a high degree of patience who can overlook a condescending tone and dull repetition.
Pros: Well designed cover; Interesting topic; Fusion of math & memoir
Cons: Condescending tone; Frequent redundancies; Lack of preface
Like most recent science and math books, Symmetry is divided into chapters with accurate and descriptive subheadings within each chapter. There are twelve chapters in all, each titled with a different month, representing the author's personal journey to turning 40 and beyond.
While this is a somewhat novel arrangement for a math book, what Symmetry lacks is a preface. A preface is much appreciated at the outset of a work of non-fiction. The preface typically serves to introduce the topic at hand, as well as to provide a helpful lesson to the reader regarding any technical terms and jargon necessary to the understand the remainder of the book.
Despite the lack of a preface, Sautoy does briefly define, or provide an illustration for, each of the higher level mathematical terms as they are discussed. However, even with this assistance from the author some concepts are just too advanced for a general popular readership.
One such concept is the idea of greater than three-dimensional objects and space. While this concept may indeed be too difficult for all of Symmetry's readers to grasp, Sautoy's condescending tone when discussing multi-dimensional objects is wholly unnecessary and made me want to put the book down and not pick it up again.
Another flaw impairing the overall readability is the repetitiveness of certain observations from Sautoy's mentors. While these observations are undoubtably important to Sautoy and to the concept at hand, Symmetry's audience should be given some credit. It is a rare reader that forgets what occured in Chapter 1 before completing Chapter 2, and likewise for Chapters 2 and 3.
Symmetry is also nearly entirely lacking in footnotes but it does have an endnotes and a futher reading section at its conclusion which could be helpful for higher-level math students doing research projects.
This book is only recommended for those with an advanced understanding of higher level mathematics and readers with a high degree of patience who can overlook a condescending tone and dull repetition.
June 11, 2014
This is like reading three books in one...and like the multifunction tools that claim to perform a lot of tasks, it's less than satisfying.
The first story you encounter is that of the author, a mathematician who has reached middle age without having won a prestigious prize in his field. I hope I can be pardoned for not feeling sympathy for him. I find his appearances in the book almost always tedious
The second layer of the book is a history of mathematics that deal with problems of symmetry. This aspect of the book is enjoyable enough, even if it careens into much-too-detailed mathematics from time to time. We also meet some interesting characters in the contemporary world of mathematics. Du Sautoy has a good sense of how to give his story some sense of urgency, and my only problem with this aspect of the book is how it is interrupted by the other parts...
The third part of this 'Inception'-like book is a discussion of a math problem the author is working on, which appears to evaporate in a mist of moonshine (sorry, spoiler there) as he writes. My ignorance of mathematics probably disqualifies me from addressing this subject fully, but I think it's fair for the reader to expect that if a subject is going to be introduced it's going to be worked out thoroughly in the narrative...
In all, the book has its entertaining passages - about the author racing to decode a Coldplay album cover, about how 24-dimensional grocers might stack oranges, about how codes and numbers and symmetry all intersect - but these are outweighed by tedious introspection, a story that is more surfed than narrated, and a-more-than generous dollop of specialized technical information.
The first story you encounter is that of the author, a mathematician who has reached middle age without having won a prestigious prize in his field. I hope I can be pardoned for not feeling sympathy for him. I find his appearances in the book almost always tedious
The second layer of the book is a history of mathematics that deal with problems of symmetry. This aspect of the book is enjoyable enough, even if it careens into much-too-detailed mathematics from time to time. We also meet some interesting characters in the contemporary world of mathematics. Du Sautoy has a good sense of how to give his story some sense of urgency, and my only problem with this aspect of the book is how it is interrupted by the other parts...
The third part of this 'Inception'-like book is a discussion of a math problem the author is working on, which appears to evaporate in a mist of moonshine (sorry, spoiler there) as he writes. My ignorance of mathematics probably disqualifies me from addressing this subject fully, but I think it's fair for the reader to expect that if a subject is going to be introduced it's going to be worked out thoroughly in the narrative...
In all, the book has its entertaining passages - about the author racing to decode a Coldplay album cover, about how 24-dimensional grocers might stack oranges, about how codes and numbers and symmetry all intersect - but these are outweighed by tedious introspection, a story that is more surfed than narrated, and a-more-than generous dollop of specialized technical information.
September 23, 2014
I liked this book but it was a little hard to get into. The story about MC Escher's childhood was fascinating. I looked up more information on the 17 wallpaper groups after reading about the Alhambra. I watched a movie where du Sautoy talked about symmetry which is obviously one of his favorite subjects. I would recommend this book to someone who has an interest in the subject but not to someone looking for a easy read.
January 12, 2021
Cosa ho imparato da questo libro?
1) che i matematici sono per lo più dei personaggi "curiosi" quando va bene, "stramboidi senza speranza" quando va male.
2)che la ricerca di verità matematiche non ha niente da invidiare a delle quest cavalleresche (compresi i mostri)
3)che avrei dovuto stare più attento al liceo
4)che la simmetria non è semplicemente la corrispondenza tra lato destro e lato sinistro..e che non è detto debba esaurirsi alle nostre (misere) 3 dimensioni...
5)perché in matematica si dica "scoprire" e non "creare"
beh...
non vi è venuta voglia di saperne di più?
1) che i matematici sono per lo più dei personaggi "curiosi" quando va bene, "stramboidi senza speranza" quando va male.
2)che la ricerca di verità matematiche non ha niente da invidiare a delle quest cavalleresche (compresi i mostri)
3)che avrei dovuto stare più attento al liceo
4)che la simmetria non è semplicemente la corrispondenza tra lato destro e lato sinistro..e che non è detto debba esaurirsi alle nostre (misere) 3 dimensioni...
5)perché in matematica si dica "scoprire" e non "creare"
beh...
non vi è venuta voglia di saperne di più?
October 15, 2020
This is a fascinating exploration of the mathematic of symmetry as well as the history of the people coming up with the math. The author’s stories are fascinating and it also helps me appreciate how integral math is to our lives. What I liked about this book is that I came away with a better understanding of a mathematicians journey to solve a problem. It a year long journey that’s quite intriguing.
December 9, 2015
This book explains the mathematical concept of group by means of patterns of symetry in nature,is a book about groups;the bulk of the book is the history of the theorem about the classification of simple groups, a very long theorem demosstrated by the work of docens of group specialists ,the theorem is 10000 pages long and no single person has read it fully
February 6, 2015
A long hard read, explaining for people with minimal understanding of advanced group theory, the full atlas of the 26 types of symmetrical objects.
May 24, 2020
A historical tour through the concept of symmetry. Du Sautoy relates to mathematics the 'moonshine' because the moon doesn't shine itself, but can be seen because it reflects the light of the sun. And so there are a lot of mathematical objects in groups theory that we can't see in reality because they are defined in a nth dimensional space... with n a very big number, in some cases. Huge. Enormous, as the Monster, which is a group that exists in a 196883-dimensional space.
I loved how du Sautoy combines his personal work and life with that of the protagonists who studied symmetry throughout the centuries. The evolution of a bunch of mathematical concepts, while he looks into the mathematical mind, conjectures, theorems, beauty... He tries to show us the job of a professional mathematician, his breakthroughs, his fights against the unknown.
I keep thinking that Marcus de Sautoy is one of the best writers in popular science, at least in maths. He explains very clearly difficult concepts, he gets everything to make sense and fit using almost no equations. Here he tells the biographical background of the mathematical field almost as much as mathematics itself; he pay close attention to the people behind the theorems and what they do, what they feel. He achieves it because of his personal relationship with part of the mathematicians involve in the pursuit of symmetry in the twentieth century.
I loved how du Sautoy combines his personal work and life with that of the protagonists who studied symmetry throughout the centuries. The evolution of a bunch of mathematical concepts, while he looks into the mathematical mind, conjectures, theorems, beauty... He tries to show us the job of a professional mathematician, his breakthroughs, his fights against the unknown.
I keep thinking that Marcus de Sautoy is one of the best writers in popular science, at least in maths. He explains very clearly difficult concepts, he gets everything to make sense and fit using almost no equations. Here he tells the biographical background of the mathematical field almost as much as mathematics itself; he pay close attention to the people behind the theorems and what they do, what they feel. He achieves it because of his personal relationship with part of the mathematicians involve in the pursuit of symmetry in the twentieth century.
January 19, 2018
Lets follow myself around for a year, and write a chapter about what I am up to every month. So if I get stoned on a beach in the Sinai, well, whatever, write that down too.
OK, that is a little unfair. I quite enjoyed the book, but it did rather lack focus. Besides the author’s personal adventures, we get the life history of the mathematicians who developed the mathematics of symmetry (they had hard and often short lives), and an up-close look at the modern mathematicians working on it. I guess you need to be a whack job to do the job well, like the guy who never changes his clothes and carries around a plastic bag full of railway timetables.
I was hoping to learn more about how group theory helps us understand symmetry, but instead of learning to play the game I got to be a spectator watching the pros do their stuff. And it is a bit out of my league. The star of the show is the “Monster”, a group that exists in a 196,883 dimensional space. I am still struggling with four dimensional space-time. This group has, oh the number is wider than the page, symmetries. What is the point? Well, for us grubby materialists, it turns out there is a connection to string theory. This does not help my impression that string theory is out of this world.
It was a fun ride, and a surprisingly easy read, in a very esoteric space. Enjoy it on the beach.
OK, that is a little unfair. I quite enjoyed the book, but it did rather lack focus. Besides the author’s personal adventures, we get the life history of the mathematicians who developed the mathematics of symmetry (they had hard and often short lives), and an up-close look at the modern mathematicians working on it. I guess you need to be a whack job to do the job well, like the guy who never changes his clothes and carries around a plastic bag full of railway timetables.
I was hoping to learn more about how group theory helps us understand symmetry, but instead of learning to play the game I got to be a spectator watching the pros do their stuff. And it is a bit out of my league. The star of the show is the “Monster”, a group that exists in a 196,883 dimensional space. I am still struggling with four dimensional space-time. This group has, oh the number is wider than the page, symmetries. What is the point? Well, for us grubby materialists, it turns out there is a connection to string theory. This does not help my impression that string theory is out of this world.
It was a fun ride, and a surprisingly easy read, in a very esoteric space. Enjoy it on the beach.
October 16, 2019
La matematica è sempre stata la mia bestia nera, eppure il titolo mi ha attratto al punto da farmi scavalcare antichi preconcetti scolastici per buttarmi in questa lettura. Il testo risulta interessante e gradevole - almeno finché non si addentra in spiegazioni "tecniche" decisamente al di sopra delle mie possibilità - offrendo una visione inaspettata sia della matematica che delle sue applicazioni (ed implicazioni) pratiche. Diverse sono le digressioni biografiche ed aneddotiche su protagonisti della matematica di simmetria, che contribuiscono a rendere il volume godibile anche per un ignorante in materia come il sottoscritto. Ciò non toglie che la lettura sia stata impegnativa: diversi mesi per appena 500 pagine, una media molto al di fuori delle mie abituali, segno inequivocabile della difficoltà dello scritto e della mia tenacia, temo temprata dall'età. Pochi anni fa, senza dubbio, "Il disordine perfetto" sarebbe finito sotto l'etichetta "Abbandonato"...
February 5, 2020
8/10
The first half of this book was amazing. He did such a good job of giving us the history of mathematics and explaining abstract concepts in fun, easy to understand ways.
And he did a great job interweaving his personal story in to this.
Unfortunately, he went off the rails a little bit in the second half. There was a lot of name mentioning and a lot less history and explanation. In the first half he defined the word prime.
In the second half, if I hadn’t studied group theory, if I hadn’t already known about zeta functions, I would have been totally lost. Interesting for a mathematician, but maybe not for anyone else.
And at the end of each chapter, it was like he remembered that he was supposed to also talk about himself, which made for a few sentences that really seemed to come out of nowhere.
Still, I loved it!! And I find myself feeling passionate about symmetry all over again, reminded of my undergraduate days.
The first half of this book was amazing. He did such a good job of giving us the history of mathematics and explaining abstract concepts in fun, easy to understand ways.
And he did a great job interweaving his personal story in to this.
Unfortunately, he went off the rails a little bit in the second half. There was a lot of name mentioning and a lot less history and explanation. In the first half he defined the word prime.
In the second half, if I hadn’t studied group theory, if I hadn’t already known about zeta functions, I would have been totally lost. Interesting for a mathematician, but maybe not for anyone else.
And at the end of each chapter, it was like he remembered that he was supposed to also talk about himself, which made for a few sentences that really seemed to come out of nowhere.
Still, I loved it!! And I find myself feeling passionate about symmetry all over again, reminded of my undergraduate days.
May 2, 2018
I first gave this book a 4-star rating. But as I've been lingering about the ideas from this book over the week, I realized that it's not a fair rating. It is really worth 5 stars.
I initially discounted one star for the fact that the author was sometimes lingering too much around his own research and work routine, which was distracting me from other more interesting topics of symmetry that he describes in the book. But probably it was just the minimum that the author could include to keep the book coherent and somehow connected. And even these small "distractions" are rather minor inconveniences compared to all the wealth and depth of knowledge about symmetry in nature and development of mathematical knowledge and symmetry over 2000 years that I could get from this book. What's very valuable is that this material is written in a simple easily comprehensible language for a lay audience (which is in itself quite an achievement taking into account how complex that information actually is!).
Great work, dear Marcus du Sautoy! I already feel I will want to re-read this book once again.
I initially discounted one star for the fact that the author was sometimes lingering too much around his own research and work routine, which was distracting me from other more interesting topics of symmetry that he describes in the book. But probably it was just the minimum that the author could include to keep the book coherent and somehow connected. And even these small "distractions" are rather minor inconveniences compared to all the wealth and depth of knowledge about symmetry in nature and development of mathematical knowledge and symmetry over 2000 years that I could get from this book. What's very valuable is that this material is written in a simple easily comprehensible language for a lay audience (which is in itself quite an achievement taking into account how complex that information actually is!).
Great work, dear Marcus du Sautoy! I already feel I will want to re-read this book once again.
November 2, 2020
This book takes us on a journey of symmetry, starting from the discovery of the platonic solids in ancient Greece to the moonshine in late 20th century. The book very naturally connects symmetry that we see around us to stories hundreds of years ago when people first started to formalize the idea of what symmetry is.
With some idea of the mathematics behind it, the history really appealed to me, appreciating the feats that great people had accomplished. The book also describes the vastly varying situation and incidents that these ground breaking ideas faced before coming into reality. This book paints a very beautiful picture of what it is that mathematicians find so beautiful and enchanting in the subject, and can only give rise to a curiosity to the reader's mind to take a glimpse of these beauty.
With some idea of the mathematics behind it, the history really appealed to me, appreciating the feats that great people had accomplished. The book also describes the vastly varying situation and incidents that these ground breaking ideas faced before coming into reality. This book paints a very beautiful picture of what it is that mathematicians find so beautiful and enchanting in the subject, and can only give rise to a curiosity to the reader's mind to take a glimpse of these beauty.
April 5, 2024
A contender for one of the most niche books I've ever read. This book is a quasi-diary of one year in the working life of the author, who is a mathematician that specializes in symmetry. And interwoven with that diary is a history book about the mathematics of symmetry in academia. Not bad at what it does, but I don't think this book would be interesting to anyone who isn't math major/professional mathematician, and only a small subset of them at that. I kinda just wanted to read a basic book about the nature of symmetry, which this book only lightly covers in the first two chapters.
March 8, 2019
Quitando algunos párrafos, lo he seguido bastante bien. Considero un gran mérito del autor haber logrado hacer tan accesible un tema que puede resultar árido.
Impresionante descubrir como las estructuras simétricas están en el fondo de nuestra mente, al tiempo que constituyen patrones de la naturaleza.
Impresionante descubrir como las estructuras simétricas están en el fondo de nuestra mente, al tiempo que constituyen patrones de la naturaleza.
March 6, 2020
In places, quite brilliant. Cutting it down to 250pp from 359 would have been a start to making a good book, rather than the meandering history of symmetrical math.
As with far too many mathematicians, they drone on about the obvious and easy, and gloss over the more interesting and complicated bits.
As with far too many mathematicians, they drone on about the obvious and easy, and gloss over the more interesting and complicated bits.
September 18, 2020
aight this surely ain't a book that I would have bought, but...
as a math book, it's not bad as I thought, I mean it's so boring, I laughed at a fucking Pikachu plane cuz I went out 50 pages of z function and fourth-grade equation but when I finished it I figured out that it left me something, I don't know what, but it's fine however
as a math book, it's not bad as I thought, I mean it's so boring, I laughed at a fucking Pikachu plane cuz I went out 50 pages of z function and fourth-grade equation but when I finished it I figured out that it left me something, I don't know what, but it's fine however
October 29, 2021
It's hard to define this book--it's part memoir, part history, and part really convoluted math equations. I ended up skimming over some sections of the math because I simply couldn't grasp the multi-dimensional geometry involved. At the same time, I still found the book overall fascinating simply because it's a glimpse into a different approach to understanding the world.
September 26, 2022
הספר מכיל את המסע של המתימטיקה בתחום הסימטריה ותורת החבורות, של האנשים שעשו אותה ושל המחבר עצמו.
התמהיל קצת יותר מדי לטעמי נוטה למחבר עצמו ופחות למתימטיקה.
במובן שזה הספר שפת הסימטריה של מריו ליביו יותר טוב וגם יותר קצר.
הספר הזה יותר מרחיב יותר מזה של ליביו בכך שמתאר את הסיפור של המפלצת שלא חושב שנמצא בספר של ליביו.
התמהיל קצת יותר מדי לטעמי נוטה למחבר עצמו ופחות למתימטיקה.
במובן שזה הספר שפת הסימטריה של מריו ליביו יותר טוב וגם יותר קצר.
הספר הזה יותר מרחיב יותר מזה של ליביו בכך שמתאר את הסיפור של המפלצת שלא חושב שנמצא בספר של ליביו.
May 16, 2024
Δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία ότι ο συγγραφέας ξέρει να αιχμαλωτίζει το ενδιαφέρον. Μέχρι τα 2/3 του βιβλίου δεν μπορούσα να το αφήσω κάτω. Προς το τέλος μου φάνηκε ότι έκανε μια κοιλιά , είτε στη διήγηση είτε στην προσπάθεια να περιγράψει δύσκολες έννοιες σε κοινό μη ειδικών (όπως εγώ). Συνολικά ό��ως πέρασα υπέροχα διαβάζοντας το!
July 14, 2017
Nice read on Mathematical Symmetry.
At some points I wanted more detail, then when late rin the book I got some it was quickly getting beyond my level, so maybe not so bad.
Some human stories, som eof the characteristics of the guys with PHD's in group theory - an odd group of folks.
At some points I wanted more detail, then when late rin the book I got some it was quickly getting beyond my level, so maybe not so bad.
Some human stories, som eof the characteristics of the guys with PHD's in group theory - an odd group of folks.
August 21, 2017
L'autore ha perso del tutto la capacità di divulgare i concetti matematici e renderli ad appannaggio di tutti, cade nella lunga linea grigia di matematici saccenti e convinti di appartenere ad una sfera semi divina. Divulgazione scientifica 'sti cazzi
November 24, 2021
Finalmente un libro sulla matematica che io posso capire. Molti chiari esempi, vita vissuta matematicamente, pochissime formule ridotte proprio all’osso.
Bravo questo autore, che oltre ad essere un matematico, e ce ne sono tanti, è un bravo DIVULGATORE, e ce ne sono pochi(ssimi).
Bravo questo autore, che oltre ad essere un matematico, e ce ne sono tanti, è un bravo DIVULGATORE, e ce ne sono pochi(ssimi).
January 6, 2019
If you're obsessed with symmetry, read this. If not, it might be a bit too much (I dont know since I am obsessed with symmetry myself).
October 19, 2019
Interesting topics, led me to John Conways bio and his surreal number book. It clearly written for us non mathematicians.
January 31, 2020
pretty good book, but sometimes too deep into math
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