Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe

Author: Leon M. Lederman
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615920412
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Book Description
When scientists peer through a telescope at the distant stars in outer space or use a particle-accelerator to analyze the smallest components of matter, they discover that the same laws of physics govern the whole universe at all times and all places. Physicists call the eternal, ubiquitous constancy of the laws of physics symmetry. Symmetry is the basic underlying principle that defines the laws of nature and hence controls the universe. This all-important insight is one of the great conceptual breakthroughs in modern physics and is the basis of contemporary efforts to discover a grand unified theory to explain all the laws of physics. Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman and physicist Christopher T. Hill explain the supremely elegant concept of symmetry and all its profound ramifications to life on Earth and the universe at large in this eloquent, accessible popular science book. They not only clearly describe concepts normally reserved only for physicists and mathematicians, but they also instill an appreciation for the profound beauty of the universe’s inherent design. Central to the story of symmetry is an obscure, unpretentious, but extremely gifted German mathematician named Emmy Noether. Though still little known to the world, she impressed no less a scientist than Albert Einstein, who praised her "penetrating mathematical thinking." In some of her earliest work she proved that the law of the conservation of energy was connected to the idea of symmetry and thus laid the mathematical groundwork for what may be the most important concept of modern physics. Lederman and Hill reveal concepts about the universe, based on Noether’s work, that are largely unknown to the public and have wide-reaching implications in connection with the Big Bang, Einstein’s theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other areas of physics. Through ingenious analogies and illustrations, they bring these astounding notions to life. This book will open your eyes to a universe you never knew existed.

Beautiful Symmetry

Author: Alex Berke
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026253892X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 165

Book Description
A coloring book that invites readers to explore symmetry and the beauty of math visually. Beautiful Symmetry is a coloring book about math, inviting us to engage with mathematical concepts visually through coloring challenges and visual puzzles. We can explore symmetry and the beauty of mathematics playfully, coloring through ideas usually reserved for advanced courses. The book is for children and adults, for math nerds and math avoiders, for educators, students, and coloring enthusiasts. Through illustration, language that is visual, and words that are jargon-free, the book introduces group theory as the mathematical foundation for discussions of symmetry, covering symmetry groups that include the cyclic groups, frieze groups, and wallpaper groups. The illustrations are drawn by algorithms, following the symmetry rules for each given group. The coloring challenges can be completed and fully realized only on the page; solutions are provided. Online, in a complementary digital edition, the illustrations come to life with animated interactions that show the symmetries that generated them. Traditional math curricula focus on arithmetic and the manipulation of numbers, and may make some learners feel that math is not for them. By offering a more visual and tactile approach, this book shows how math can be for everyone. Combining the playful and the pedagogical, Beautiful Symmetry offers both relaxing entertainment for recreational colorers and a resource for math-curious readers, students, and educators.

Why Beauty Is Truth

Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN: 0465082378
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
Physics.

Beautiful Symmetry

Author: Jessica Christianson
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781978445406
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Symmetry is everywhere! It can be as simple as the wheels on a bike, or as complicated as the gravity and motion that allows a cyclist not to fall over. The way we understand it today is in large part thanks to the work of Emmy Noether, a woman who chose to be incredibly brave in a very challenging time. Not only did she escape fascist Germany during the peak of World War 2, but she redefined what it meant to be a woman in mathematics at the time when she earned her PHD and worked alongside the one and only Albert Einstein. Look for the symmetry on each page, illustrated by hand in the style of Art Deco as was in vogue at the time of Emmy's life. Beautiful Symmetry is the third book in the four part series, STEM Super-heroines, published by Girls Rock Math. GRM aims to inspire youth with stories of the brave, creative, and accomplished women that have helped shape mathematics as we know it today. Girls Rock Math is a program that aims to provide thought provoking, creative experiences in math, empowering girls to develop confidence in their skills and a life-long interest in mathematics.

Symmetry

Author: Kristopher Tapp
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030516695
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
This textbook is perfect for a math course for non-math majors, with the goal of encouraging effective analytical thinking and exposing students to elegant mathematical ideas. It includes many topics commonly found in sampler courses, like Platonic solids, Euler’s formula, irrational numbers, countable sets, permutations, and a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. All of these topics serve a single compelling goal: understanding the mathematical patterns underlying the symmetry that we observe in the physical world around us. The exposition is engaging, precise and rigorous. The theorems are visually motivated with intuitive proofs appropriate for the intended audience. Students from all majors will enjoy the many beautiful topics herein, and will come to better appreciate the powerful cumulative nature of mathematics as these topics are woven together into a single fascinating story about the ways in which objects can be symmetric.

Creating Symmetry

Author: Frank A. Farris
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400865670
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Book Description
A step-by-step illustrated introduction to the astounding mathematics of symmetry This lavishly illustrated book provides a hands-on, step-by-step introduction to the intriguing mathematics of symmetry. Instead of breaking up patterns into blocks—a sort of potato-stamp method—Frank Farris offers a completely new waveform approach that enables you to create an endless variety of rosettes, friezes, and wallpaper patterns: dazzling art images where the beauty of nature meets the precision of mathematics. Featuring more than 100 stunning color illustrations and requiring only a modest background in math, Creating Symmetry begins by addressing the enigma of a simple curve, whose curious symmetry seems unexplained by its formula. Farris describes how complex numbers unlock the mystery, and how they lead to the next steps on an engaging path to constructing waveforms. He explains how to devise waveforms for each of the 17 possible wallpaper types, and then guides you through a host of other fascinating topics in symmetry, such as color-reversing patterns, three-color patterns, polyhedral symmetry, and hyperbolic symmetry. Along the way, Farris demonstrates how to marry waveforms with photographic images to construct beautiful symmetry patterns as he gradually familiarizes you with more advanced mathematics, including group theory, functional analysis, and partial differential equations. As you progress through the book, you'll learn how to create breathtaking art images of your own. Fun, accessible, and challenging, Creating Symmetry features numerous examples and exercises throughout, as well as engaging discussions of the history behind the mathematics presented in the book.

Fearless Symmetry

Author: Avner Ash
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691138710
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
Written in a friendly style for a general mathematically literate audience, 'Fearless Symmetry', starts with the basic properties of integers and permutations and reaches current research in number theory.

Physics from Symmetry

Author: Jakob Schwichtenberg
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319666312
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
This is a textbook that derives the fundamental theories of physics from symmetry. It starts by introducing, in a completely self-contained way, all mathematical tools needed to use symmetry ideas in physics. Thereafter, these tools are put into action and by using symmetry constraints, the fundamental equations of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory, Electromagnetism, and Classical Mechanics are derived. As a result, the reader is able to understand the basic assumptions behind, and the connections between the modern theories of physics. The book concludes with first applications of the previously derived equations. Thanks to the input of readers from around the world, this second edition has been purged of typographical errors and also contains several revised sections with improved explanations.

Shapes, Space, and Symmetry

Author: Alan Holden
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486268514
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
Explains structure of nine regular solids and many semiregular solids and demonstrates how they can be used to explain mathematics. Instructions for cardboard models. Over 300 illustrations. 1971 edition.

A Beautiful Question

Author: Frank Wilczek
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143109367
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Book Description
Does the universe embody beautiful ideas? Artists as well as scientists throughout human history have pondered this “beautiful question.” With Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek as your guide, embark on a voyage of related discoveries, from Plato and Pythagoras up to the present. Wilczek’s groundbreaking work in quantum physics was inspired by his intuition to look for a deeper order of beauty in nature. This is the deep logic of the universe—and it is no accident that it is also at the heart of what we find aesthetically pleasing and inspiring. Wilczek is hardly alone among great scientists in charting his course using beauty as his compass. As he reveals in A Beautiful Question, this has been the heart of scientific pursuit from Pythagoras and the ancient belief in the music of the spheres to Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, and into the deep waters of twentieth-century physics. Wilczek brings us right to the edge of knowledge today, where the core insights of even the craziest quantum ideas apply principles we all understand. The equations for atoms and light are almost the same ones that govern musical instruments and sound; the subatomic particles that are responsible for most of our mass are determined by simple geometric symmetries. Gorgeously illustrated, A Beautiful Question is a mind-shifting book that braids the age-old quest for beauty and the age-old quest for truth into a thrilling synthesis. It is a dazzling and important work from one of our best thinkers, whose humor and infectious sense of wonder animate every page. Yes: The world is a work of art, and its deepest truths are ones we already feel, as if they were somehow written in our souls.