1300 187 187
At the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory, and much of modern cosmology lies one concept: symmetry. "In Why Beauty Is Truth," world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study.
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 super strings: the "octonionic" symmetries that may explain the very existence of the universe.
About the Author
Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick and Director of its Mathematics Awareness Centre. His many books include Does God Play Dice?, Nature's Numbers, Flatterland, and Letters to a Young Mathematician. His writing has appeared in many publications, including New Scientist, and Prospect, and he lives in Coventry.
"(t)he book's greatest value is its insight into what it is to be a mathematician... His enthusiasm is infectious." The Times "As a mentor for a budding mathematician, he is remarkably good company." New Scientist"
| Preface | p. ix |
| The Scribes of Babylon | p. 1 |
| The Household Name | p. 17 |
| The Persian Poet | p. 33 |
| The Gambling Scholar | p. 45 |
| The Cunning Fox | p. 63 |
| The Frustrated Doctor and the Sickly Genius | p. 75 |
| The Luckless Revolutionary | p. 97 |
| The Mediocre Engineer and the Transcendent Professor | p. 125 |
| The Drunken Vandal | p. 137 |
| The Would-Be Soldier and the Weakly Bookworm | p. 159 |
| The Clerk from the Patent Office | p. 173 |
| A Quantum Quintet | p. 199 |
| The Five-Dimensional Man | p. 221 |
| The Political Journalist | p. 243 |
| A Muddle of Mathematicians | p. 259 |
| Seekers after Truth and Beauty | p. 275 |
| Further Reading | p. 281 |
| Index | p. 283 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780465082360
ISBN-10: 046508236X
Audience:
General
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 290
Published: 1st March 2007
Dimensions (cm): 24.5 x 16.5
x 2.4
Weight (kg): 0.561
9am - 4pm AEST, Monday - Friday
