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Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature Paperback – March 3, 2009

by Marcus du Sautoy (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 18 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (March 3, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060789417
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060789411
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,019,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThe Beauty and the "Monster" (Group Symmetry)
By WuBing on April 18, 2008
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I read this book in 2 weeks, can't stop admiring the way the author managed to explain so many interesting modern math concepts in layman's terms. Below are some astonishing math knowledge which worth the book price you pay for.

1) Quintic Equation: Both Abel and Galois proved the quintic equations have no radical solutions. Abel proved 'No solution' by reductio ad absurdum; while Galois proved 'Why No?' with the beautiful Group Theory. How could a 19-year-old French boy thought of such grand math theory? It was a shame he was not recognised by the grand mathematicians like Cauchy, Gauss, Fourier, etc. He wrote the Group Theory down the night before his deadly duel and scribbled "Je n'ai pas le temps" (I have no time)... it took another 10 years for Group Theory to be rediscoverd by Prof Liouville of the Ecole Polytechniques (whose ignorant examiners ironically failed Galois twice in Entrance Concours Exams).

2) Moonshine: Monster Group dimensions (dj) & relationship with Fourier expansion of coefficients (cj) in Modular Function (page 333):
x^-1 + 744+196,884x + 21,493,760 x^2 + 864,229,970x^3 +...
cn= c1+c2+...cn-1 + dn
where d1 = 196,883
d2 = 21,296,876
d3 = 842,609,326
and c1 = 1+ d1 = 196,884
c2 = c1+d2 = 21,493,760
c3 = c1 + c2 + d3 = 864,229,970
What a coincidence! no wonder Conway said this discovery was the most exciting event in his life.
3) 'Atlas of Finite Group': the book covered the insider story of the 5 Cambridge mathematicians led by Conway, in an attempt to create the 'Periodic Table' of Group's building blocks (Monster Group is the last one).Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsWhat Do Mathematicians Do?
By Rob Hardy HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on March 11, 2008
Format: Hardcover
Symmetry is something that is easy for us to appreciate. It might be that we have an evolutionary taste for symmetric creatures; we suspect there is something wrong if a horse has an uneven gait, and it has been shown that we prefer symmetric faces. Of course symmetry is part of our art and architecture. So it is an inherently interesting subject for everyone, but mathematicians have taken the study of symmetry to heights that the rest of us can barely imagine. One of those mathematicians is Marcus du Sautoy, who has shown in his previous _The Music of the Primes_ that he has the capability of descending from the mathematical summits enough to have readers understand a bit of what mathematicians do. Now in _Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature_ (Harper), du Sautoy has told the story of a mathematical quest that has gone on for centuries and which, it seems, was essentially completed in the 1980s. There are lots of different symmetries, some of which have complicated ways of being manipulated in dimensions higher than anyone will ever be able to depict. To prove that every single symmetry has been mathematically classified was a real triumph of a branch of mathematics known as Group Theory. The scale of the triumph only mathematicians will come close to fully understanding, but the rest of us can get an idea of how monumental a victory this was from du Sautoy's engaging look at how the job was done.

Imagine an equilateral triangle. You can leave it where it is, or you can rotate it around by a third, or by two thirds, and it looks just the same. You can flip it around three different axes, and it looks the same. Those are its six symmetries. The Greeks were fascinated with the symmetry of solid figures, the Muslims with that of tiles and plane figures.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsGood book, worth reading.
By Farseem Mohammedy on June 3, 2008
Format: Hardcover
This is overall a good book. The author devoted one full chapter on the obvious geometric symmetry studies in the walls and floors of the Spanish Al-Hambra palace in Granada. Then he slowly develops the Galois group theory and the more abstract part of the symmetry. He continues his discussions on the various parts of his research life, his collaborations, conferences, his digressions into Japanese episodes, how he feels about his students (his "mathematical children") etc. This is in contrast with Hermal Weyl's famous "Symmtery" book published many years ago. In this book, the author depicts a personal journey into the abstract beauty of mathematical symmetry, how he entangles problems in group theory in his own research. This personal journey is juxtaposed with historical figures like Galois, Cauchy, Abel, Lie and their stories of making key contributions to the field of group symmetry studies. Not only the past giants, but also recent luminaries are also mentioned as studies in mathematics of group symmetry is an ongoing process. Any scientific endeavour should not be completely decoupled from personal struggles, since this is the person that drives the passion of originality. For impersonal accounts, there are the corpus of journal papers. But it is also instructive to see what and how the person felt at the 'moment of epiphany'. This book is for sure not meant for an expert's reading. It is meant for budding mathematicians, to motivate their interest in mathematics. This book should be of general interest to the layperson having some sort of math background.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Good product and good service.

Published 18 months ago by Regina Ilusiva
5.0 out of 5 starsWeaving the symmetries

Du Sautoy takes us us to a trip where the world of symmetry appears in Persian carpets, church
bells, Bach Golberg Variations, DNA sequences, RNA viruses invasions, and secret... Read more

Published 20 months ago by Marcial Losada
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful book

I haven't had a book wake me in the middle of the night and demand I read more since high school.

Published on December 14, 2012 by "Wimm-g"
3.0 out of 5 starsGood book, but a little bit unstructured

I love books about Mathematics, and I loved du Sautoy's The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics (P.S. Read more

Published on September 25, 2012 by Fabio Fortkamp
4.0 out of 5 starssymmetry inspires art

This book is an insightful read and provides exercise to the logical thought process.
It is somewhat technical and illustrates concrete examples of mathematical concepts; and... Read more

Published on February 8, 2011 by seert1
3.0 out of 5 starsSymmetry

Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, takes the reader from a recognition of symmetry in nature and ornament to the ways that symmetry has been... Read more

Published on July 19, 2010 by Sam Adams
5.0 out of 5 starsA highly insightful read

Like some other reviewers on this page, I came to this book with certain expectations. I thought it would be a popular (yet in depth) treatment of the subject matter announced by... Read more

Published on July 8, 2010 by Librum
2.0 out of 5 starsA Disappointing Mathematical Memoir

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. Read more

Published on March 17, 2010 by Tracey Carter
5.0 out of 5 starsA Journey through the World of Symmetry

Du Sautoy is one of those mathematicians who can do it all. He is the best popularizer of mathematics I have read so far. Read more

Published on September 5, 2009 by Janet C. Malone
3.0 out of 5 starsuneven

I had read and enjoyed the author's previous "Music of the Primes" and so gave this new work in the author's research area a read. Read more

Published on May 8, 2009 by Christine

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