The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry - Hardcover

Mario Livio

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9780285637436: The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0285637436 ISBN 13: 9780285637436
Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

The story of symmetry is a story of brilliant mathematicians, and a fascinating account of how mathematics illuminates a wide variety of disciplines. It explains how J.S. Bach composed, how the rubik's cube was invented and why we are sexually attracted to other people.Over the millennia, mathematicians had solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations until they came to the quintic equation. It resisted solution for several centuries, until two mathematical prodigies independently discovered that it could not be solved by the usual methods and opened the door to group theory. These young geniuses, a Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel and the Frenchman, �varist Galois, would both die tragically. Galois spent the night before his death in a duel (aged only twenty) scribbling another summary of his proof, writing in the margin of his "I have no time".

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From the Publisher

"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the apparently remote concerns of pure mathematics can lead too deep and practical insights into the natural world." --Ian Stewart, author of DOES GOD PLAY DICE?

"A highly readable and illuminating book." --Sir Michael Atiyah, Abel Prize in Mathematics Laureate 2004

About the Author

Mario Livio is a Senior Astronomer and the former Head of the Science Division at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the institute that conducts the scientific program of the Hubble Space Telescope. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics from Tel Aviv University in Israel and was a professor in the Physics Department at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology from 1981 to 1991, when he joined STScI. Dr. Livio has published more than 400 scientific papers and has received numerous awards for research and for excellence in teaching. He is the author of The Golden Ratio, a highly acclaimed book about mathematics and art for which he received the International Pythagoras Prize and the Peano Prize, and The Accelerating Universe.

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Publisher
Souvenir Press Ltd
Publication date
2006
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0285637436
ISBN 13 
9780285637436
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
368
Rating
  • 3.89 out of 5 stars
    1,538 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780743258210: The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0743258215 ISBN 13:  9780743258210
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2006
Softcover