Symmetry [Paperback]

Hermann Weyl (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691023743 | ISBN-13: 978-0691023748 | Publication Date: January 1, 1983

Defines symmetry through a discussion of its many uses in a wide variety of fields both academic and natural.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dr. Weyl presents a masterful and fascinating survey of the applications of the principle of symmetry in sculpture, painting, architecture, ornament, and design; its manifestations in organic and inorganic nature; and its philosophical and mathematical significance. -- Scientific American

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (January 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691023743
• ISBN-13: 978-0691023748
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ornamentation and its mathematical basis, July 22, 1998

By 

henrique fleming - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symmetry (Paperback)

This delightful booklet motivates the study of symmetry by showing its presence in art and nature. This is a work of love, frequently bordering poetry. Yet, it is a scientific book of high class. Hermann Weyl, one of the very great mathematicians of this century, then explains the mathematics behind symmetry, mostly group theory, and obtains all forms that, by repetition, completely fill the plane and the space (the crystallographic groups). This is wonderful reading. After it, the reader should be prepared for a beautiful recent discovery by R. Penrose, that there are aperiodical forms that completely fill the space, and, still more surprising, that Nature makes use of them. They are the quasi-crystals (not treated in Weyl's book, of course).

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Examination of Symmetry from a Mathematical Viewpoint, July 6, 2000

By 

William M. Rand (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symmetry (Paperback)

Be forewarned this book is technical and mathematical. Though you can definitely read it without going through all the math and thinking it through it won't be nearly as valuable to you as it would be if you spent some time and actually thought things out and figured them out rather than just speeding through. That being said this is probably the best examination of symmetry out there that I have read. Weyl starts from very simple concepts and eventually works his way up to examining even complex ornamental symmetry. Of course much of what he says about symmetry is true of aesthetics and beauty in general and many parallels can be drawn between what he is saying and other items like music that may not appear to have clear symmetry right off the bat. Unfortunately in the version I have the citations that Weyl makes are not clearly listed, but many of the authors are fairly prominent and easy to look up. If you like this book I might also reccomend G. D. Birkhoff's Aesthetic Measures. Where, Weyl is interested more in just symmetry Birkhoff is interested in mathematical aesthetic examination in general. Overall this book is a must read for anyone interested in aesthetics.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a difficult but rewarding introduction to mathematical symmetry and some of it's applications, January 11, 2008

By 

Patrick Regan "Patrick Regan" (Northampton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Symmetry (Paperback)

Symmetry is about the mathematical underpinnings of symmetry as it appears in nature and art. The book is divided into 4 sections, the first Bilateral Symmetry covers reflection. This lecture goes into biology and art. The next lecture is about rotational symmetry. I was able to follow the math presented in this lecture but had trouble in the 3rd lecture titled Ornamental Symmetry. Ornamental symmetry is mostly about tilings of the plane. There is a lot of math presented in this lecture. I had to fall back on my rudimentary knowledge or abstract algebra and linear algebra to understand it. My point is that without this knowledge this lecture and the next one The General Idea of Mathematical Symmetry would have been impossible for me to follow. However, I still recommend this book to people who don't have any of the above background. Symmetry covers the concepts behind symmetry well, and it's applications to nature and art can be followed by anyone.