Symmetry and the Monster: The Story of One of the Greatest Quests of Mathematics
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.35 (663 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0192807226 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Remarkable contribution to the pop-math genre."--SIAM Review"Succeeds in bringing to the fore an aspect of mathematics that some popularizers miss--that math is not a science of monuments, but a living tradition as vibrant as physics or ethics or law, one in which new monuments pop up weekly and old ones are retrofitted for purposes inconceivable to their creators."--Seed Magazine
Mark Ronan is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Visiting Professor of Mathematics at University College London.
Ronan, who personally knows the individuals now working on this problem, reveals how the Monster was only dimly seen at first. Mathematics is driven forward by the quest to solve a small number of major problems--the four most famous challenges being Fermat's Last Theorem, the Riemann Hypothesis, Poincaré's Conjecture, and the quest for the "Monster" of Symmetry. This story of discovery involves extraordinary characters, and Mark Ronan brings these people to life, vividly recreating the growing excitement of what became the biggest joint project ever in the field of mathematics. Galois, who spent the night before he died fr
What an odd book This book seemed poorly cast - not enough information for, say, college math majors, but not enough interesting characters and narrative twists in the story that would be of interest to non-math-majors.. "A gripping read for those of us who are math squibs" according to Sundadar. I came back to math 20 years after my BSc when a friend lent me a book in a similar style to this one. I was so blown away by how beautiful mathematics can be when explained well and went on a binge of reading these books. This one was a gripping read, both illustrating and explaining the ideas of the taxonomy of groups as well as giving a real feeling as to the excitement that must have been felt by those working at the frontier of this research. I hope the author writes more like this.. "Five Stars" according to Edgar H. Bristol. Jfmtvht