Fearful symmetry: The search for beauty in modern physics [Paperback]

A Zee (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0026334305 | ISBN-13: 978-0026334303 | Publication Date: 1986 | Edition: 1ST

Fearful Symmetry brings the incredible discoveries of contemporary physics within everyone's grasp. A. Zee, a distinguished physicist and skillful expositor, tells the exciting story of how today's theoretical physicists are following Einstein in their search for the beauty and simplicity of Nature. Animated by a sense of reverence and whimsy, the book describes the majestic sweep and accomplishments of twentieth-century physics. In the end, we stand in awe before the grand vision of modern physics--one of the greatest chapters in the intellectual history of humankind.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Zee's exposition of the intuitive use by modern theoretical physicists of the concept of symmetry . . . in order to fathom nature's laws is superb scientific reading," lauded PW , warning that this is challenging material even for initiates.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The story of modern physics is the story of the triumph of reductionism. It follows that a study of symmetry (the observation that physical laws remain unchanged when action is viewed from different perspectives or transformations) is a useful way to demonstrate the development of contemporary theories like superstrings and grand unified out of the seeming chaos of the quantum world. Zee delineates classical mechanics, relativity, the quantum, and the strange new world of subatomic particles with style and wit. Nonmathematicians especially will appreciate his entirely comprehensible, virtually nonmathematical explanation of group theory. He acknowledges the philosophical implications of what has come to be called the "new" physics, but does not stray too far from his purpose. The race for unity contains an important insight: that the nature of the physical world is abstract, rather than complicateda notion with possibly vast significance for our understanding of first causes. Gloria Rohmann, Science & Technology Div., N.Y.P.L.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Pub. Co; 1ST edition (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0026334305
• ISBN-13: 978-0026334303
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A group theorist's opinion, October 7, 2003

By 

Richard M. Weiss (Medford, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fearful Symmetry (Paperback)

I have spent most of my career studying simple groups --
finite and algebraic simple groups -- and the geometric
spaces on which they act and I have found it impossible not to be
carried away by the sheer beauty of these structures
and by the sense that they must have some reality in nature
beyond a mathematician's thoughts. This book allowed me
to have a little sense of how true this might be (far
beyond what I knew just from newspapers). As a group theorist
who has thought a lot about the same 'philosophical' issues,
I couldn't put this book down. It is full of charming stories
and good humor. In my opinion, this book is a model of good scientific writing.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Physics, February 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Fearful Symmetry (Paperback)

This a wonderfully well-written book that explains in clear and often witty prose -- with little if any math -- what particle physicists do. If you've ever wondered what goes on inside the atom, then this book's for you. I loved reading it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gauge Symmetries for Blondes, May 12, 2009

By 

Natalia Ilyin (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics (Princeton Science Library) (Paperback)

After buying Dr. Zee's book, I became worried that I would not be able to understand it and would thereby lose respect for my brain, one of my last bankable attributes. The book lay on the side table for a year. Finally, on a whim, I sat down to read it early in the evening-- about dinner-time. The next thing I knew, the windows were getting light and I couldn't feel my feet.
I barely made it through algebra, have no science background, and a scientist would probably tell me that I have no real business reading a book like Dr. Zee's. But his explanations create a case for a greater aesthetics that is so compelling-- a beauty not tangential or decorative, but essential to the architecture of physical reality-- that I wholeheartedly recommend his book to every thinking person I know. And that includes designers. And blondes.