Customer Reviews

Emergence of the Theory of Lie Groups

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I can't remember the last time I purchased a book that I have enjoyed so thoroughly. The day it arrived I read sixty pages in different parts of the book, mostly in the section on Hilbert and Weyl. There are so many branches of advanced mathematics that are tied together here in one place. These different branches, most developed since 1850, are taught as separate subjects nowadays. But in their development they were driven by a small group of scholars and geniuses in a few cities in Europe. I feel as though I'm in Berlin and Paris and Göttingen listening to these great minds as they share ideas, and as one branch of mathematics nourishes and stimulates another. One of the great ideas of Riemann and Hilbert and Weyl is the unity of mathematics, and also physics. This book recaptures that mystical and beautiful unity. I felt like all my Christmases came at once. It was so difficult to choose a section to read that I read many, and have now settled down to read the whole book carefully from cover to cover.