Product Description

Leading mathematician and author Ian Stewart explores a concept both simple and complex, both multi-disciplinary and unifying -symmetry.There is no more important concept in the history of mathematics and physics than symmetry. It lies at the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory and much of modern cosmology.In "Why Beauty Is Truth", world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study, from its roots in tenth-century BC Babylon to its current role in 21st century physics. Stewart introduces us to such characters as the Renaissance Italian genius, rogue, scholar, and gambler Girolamo Cardano, who stole the modern method of solving cubic equations and published it in the first important book on algebra, and the young revolutionary Evariste Galois, who refashioned the whole of mathematics and founded the field of group theory only to die in a pointless duel over a woman, before his work was published.Stewart also explores the strange numerology of real mathematics, in which particular numbers have unique and unpredictable properties related to symmetry. He shows how Wilhelm Killing discovered "Lie groups" with 14, 52, 78, 133, and 248 dimensions-groups whose very existence is a profound puzzle. Finally, Stewart describes the world beyond superstrings: the "octonionic" symmetries that may explain the very existence of the universe.Weaving mathematical theory with the fascinating and often dramatic stories of the people involved, "Why Beauty is Truth" is a lively, readable and accessible book for casual and specialized readers alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39660 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"Stewart is a highly gifted communicator, able not only to explain the motivation of mathematicians down the centuries but to elucidate the resulting mathematics with both clarity and style. The whole is leavened by his inimitable understated wit...and clarity...as he draws you into the minds of pathfinders...cutting through the clutter of the often slow and painful development of new ideas with a conviction that make this book accessible and motivating to anyone with a serious interest in maths. I resorted to hiding it from other members of the family until I'd finished and am confident that those on the 'waiting list' will not be disappointed. Inspirational." Times Educational Supplement "Stewart, long a class act in popular maths, does not shy from presenting equations, illuminating them with imagistic explanations and sympathetic character sketches of heroes past and present". The Guardian "Stewart's book is a good humoured, panoramic history of the development of mathematics from Babylonian times to the present... (A) fine contribution to mathematical literature..." FT "(T)he study of symmetry has become one of the most potent analytical tools for physicist, and a fundamental pillar of pure mathematics. Maybe this is what Keats was on about when he wrote "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." At any rate, there's been a gap in the market for a book to explain all this to a popular audience, and now Ian Stewart has filled it with Why Beauty is Truth. In it, he skilfully mixes narrative on the historical development of group theory - the mathematical machinery of symmetry - with effective lay explanations of how it actually works. Some of these may leave your brain gibbering helplessly in a corner - this can be technical. But in general they are staggeringly elegant... Keats would approve." BBC Focus Magazine "(I)mpressive... valuable and intelligent... (Ian Stewart is) an excellent professional mathematician". Daily Telegraph "Stewart... is renowned for his popular science books, but Why Beauty is Truth is without a doubt the finest. If it were only for its lively informal style, its historical characters, its intrigue... its beautiful prose, it would be praiseworthy. Yet, its real uniqueness - its power - is in what it uncovers. It brings us the heart of why mathematicians pursue mathematics." Nature "Dealing with the concept of symmetry, this book takes you on an easy and thrilling journey through the history of an idea and the men for whom it was an obsession. From the first sentence, that plants the reader in the midst of a duel, you are treated to a tale that is as much a history of individuals as it is of ideas. A surprising topic presented in an astonishingly entertaining manner." Good Book Guide"

Nature, May 2007
"(Ian Stewart) is renowned for his popular science books, but Why Beauty is Truth is without a doubt his finest... (A) brilliant interweaving of politics, history and intrigue... "

The Daily Telegraph, May 2007
"(An) entertaining and intelligent history of 3,000 years in the study of symmetry... impressive (and) valuable."

Customer Reviews

A Book to be Prized.
When Ian Stewart writes a book on mathematics it is always something that booklovers look forward too. This book is no exception. Beside explaining complex mathematical ideas in language understandable to non-mathematicians, and making the history of mathematics come to life through linking it with the biographies,and the personal struggles of those who have carried the subject forward through the ages,Ian Stewart does it with a beautiful simplicity. The title of this book is well earned and no one who buys it will be disappointed. A bonus in this book is thatIan Stewart shows with great economy, throughout the book, the very close relationship between the development of mathematics and the progress of physics.The care he takes not to over-reach or simplify the relationship between mathematics and physics is made clear in the final chapter where under the heading: 'Seekers After Truth and Beauty' he states:"But what works in mathematics need not work in physics,and vice versa". This is a book which cannot be too highly recommended.

Ian Stewart has done it again!
What more can I say?

Ian Stewart takes us on a journey through group theory to places you probably never considered, but in a completely fun and accessible manner. The historical tone of the book works really well, this book has inspired me to study galois theory in far greater depth.

A MUST for anybody with an interest in mathematics.

I couldn't fully appreciate the beauty
This book has many good points, and some drawbacks. I think my own lack of mathematical knowledge held me back from fully appreciating it. (I got A in O level maths in 1981. I enjoyed maths at school, and felt I was getting to the interesting bits when I was forced towards physics chemistry and biology for A levels- looking back I wish I had the chance to do all four subjects)

The good points are that is well written with a clear narrative showing how our mathematical thinking has developed over time. It shows well how seemingly abstract problems lead on to many insights that may be interesting of themselves (pure maths) or may help solve practical problems. (applied maths) What seems like purely abstract mathematics may later turn out to be the route to new applied knowledge. The "unreasonable effectiveness" of mathematics is shown in many examples throughout the book. The discussion of the relationship between truth and beauty is well nuanced, and it seems likely that truth will be beautiful, and that a current "ugly" or "messy" formulation is one awaiting its simplification. At school I was just beginning to get the idea that graphs, coordinates, geometry, equations and matrices were all ways of expressing the same idea in different formats. This book shows how these relationships come about, and evolve out from one another.

The drawbacks of the book for me was that the final 100 pages largely lost me. I got certain headline points, but I did not understand the ideas behind group theory, Lie groups, Hamilton's work, Killing's work. I think this is a reflection of my ignorance, not the author's writing.

My feeling about this book is that it would be a great read for someone studying maths at A level or university and wanting to get an idea of how maths has developed and where it is going. It would whet the appetite and encourage their studies.