It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science [Hardcover]

Graham Farmelo (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

The exact sciences have an immense weight and influence in our culture. At the heart of their effectiveness lies the mathematical equation. The difficult form of the great equations - particularly those of modern physics - has often acted as an obstacle to any understanding and they have come to embody the mystery and terror of modern science. This volume brings together some living scientists, historians and writers about science. They each seek to unpack an equation so that it becomes understandable. The contributors include Roger Penrose, John Maynard Smith, Arthur Miller, Steven Weinberg and Oliver Morton.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The power of equations can seem magical, writes MIT physics professor Frank Wilczek in an essay on the Dirac Equation, which describes the movement of quantum particles. Like the brooms created by the Sorcerer's Apprentice, they can take on a life of their own, giving birth to consequences that their creator did not expect, cannot control, and may even find repugnant. Though it seems like an odd reversal of the scientific method to do the math first and then find the data that fit, it has happened time and again. These 11 essays contributed by various scientists and science writers (e.g., Roger Penrose, Peter Galison, Oliver Morton, and Steven Weinberg) describe scientific advances that derived from mathematical theory such as Einstein's thought experiments on relativity, a game theory equation that predicted animal behavior, or the discovery that the mathematics of chaos describes the real-world phenomenon. A fascinating history of science for educated nonmathematical readers; for larger public and academic libraries. Amy Brunvand, Univ. of Utah Lib., Salt Lake City
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Equations lie at the heart of many of the most successful scientific theories. This book presents the great equations of modern science for nonmathematical readers, attempting to convey some of their power and beauty. The editor cast a wide net in gathering these 12 essays, which encompass the formula for the chemical reaction that destroys ozone; an explanation of two equations that underlie the Internet and data transmission generally; mathematical mapping applied to evolution; editor Farmelo's own explication of Planck's energy formula; and more. Two of the big names in physics are on Farmelo's roster of writers, Roger Penrose and Steven Weinberg, as are twentieth-century physics' most fecund formulas: Einstein's special and general relativity equations; Schrodinger's wave equation; the Dirac equation; and others. Contributors include Peter Galison, Aisling Irwin, and Robert May. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: Granta Books (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862074798
• ISBN-13: 978-1862074798
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Graham Farmelo is Senior Research Fellow at the Science Museum, London, and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Formerly a theoretical physicist, he is now an international consultant in science communication. He edited the best-selling It Must be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science in 2002. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exhilarating and highly varied group of essays, July 17, 2002

By 

shuttledude - See all my reviews

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This review is from: It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science (Hardcover)

This collection of eleven essays, each written by a different author, is a pleasing assortment of articles which I recommend highly. The essays cover an astonishingly wide range of unrelated topics, including the Planck-Einstein Equation for the Energy of a Quantum, the Drake equation that estimates the number of technological civilizations in our galaxy, and Shannon's Equations on information theory.

The only unpleasant aspect of this book is the uneven quality of the writing. Each author has a unique style of expression, so some chapters are exhilarating while others sound stilted and contrived. This is the reason I've limited my opinion to four instead of five stars.

The most technically "beautiful" equation in the book is probably the Dirac equation, but the chapter on logistic mapping and chaos theory ("The Best Possible Time to be Alive", by Robert May) is far and away the most enjoyable and best-written essay. These alone would warrant the price of the book.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful equations, April 9, 2002

By 

Charles Schwager (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science (Hardcover)

IMBB is not an easy book to read, but it is one that continues to reward with subsequent readings. Though the first half of the book is weighted toward physics, this is not a physics book. It also explores equations important in biology, ecology, information theory, game theory and SETI. Some of the essays require a fairly deep background in science to "get" the subtleties, but even these pay rewards for careful reading. You don't need to understand every word of the technical science to get a sense of the history and the people who uncovered these equations and how they apply to our modern world.

If you have seen Frayn's Copenhagen, the essay on Schrodinger's equation entitled "Erotica, Aesthetics and Schrodinger's Wave Equation", will give you additional insight into Heisenberg, Bohr and Schrodinger.

As editor Farmelo says in his introduction "In common with with all great scientific equations, E=MC2 is in many ways similar to a great poem. Just as a perfect sonnet is spoiled if so much as a word or item of punctuation is changed, not a single detail of a great equation...can be altered without rendering it useless."

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I receive an acknowledgement after Farmelo's essay on Einstein and Planck.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the read - some excellent contributors !, October 30, 2003

By 

Keith Appleyard "kapple999" (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science (Hardcover)

At first I was disappointed - the most beautiful equation in the world, e^i.pi = -1, was missing! As I read the book, I looked back at the title : great equations of Modern Science, not of Modern Mathematics. And indeed that is what the book is.
However I do have a few criticisms :
I knew by reputation only 2 of the 12 authors - who were the other people? Long after I had searched out their biographies on the web, I found them at the front of the book - but before the title page rather than after - how strange to put them there, or not at the back of the book ?
I didn't think the Drake equation was that `great' - and in Oliver Morton's chapter he places the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Costa Rica when in fact its in Puerto Rico.
In the opening chapter, Graham Farmelo briefly alludes to `British Astronomers announcing their results' without explaining what it was they were looking for and what they found? Only in the later chapters by Peter Galison & Roger Penrose respectively do they take pains to explain that Sir Arthur Eddington measured the bending of starlight during an eclipse.
I was confused in the chapter on Schrodingers Wave Equation - it didn't describe the form I was familiar with. Then in the notes at the end of the book Arthur Miller explained the more general form - and confessed that the `time' element had been ignored - rather a strange omission in my opinion.
Shannons Equations & the Logistic Map were both new to me - and very interesting they were.