Reality's Mirror: Exploring the Mathematics of Symmetry - Hardcover

Bunch, Bryan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471501271 ISBN 13: 9780471501275

Publisher: Wiley, 1989

Synopsis

Reality's Mirror Exploring the Mathematics of Symmetry "Here is a book that explains in laymen language what symmetry is all about, from the lowliest snowflake and flounder to the lofty group structures whose astonishing applications to the Old One are winning Nobel prizes. Bunch's book is a marvel of clear, witty science writing, as delightful to read as it is informative and up-to-date. The author is to be congratulated on a job well done." --Martin Gardner "Bryan Bunch's ambidextrous mind leaps with ease from biology to physics as he explores the question of symmetry and handedness in the universe. An excellent treatment of the pervasiveness of symmetry in nature and an admirable weaving of common threads from many diverse fields." --Dr. Eugene F. Mallove Chief Science Writer Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Reality's Mirror is fascinating. It really is something of a grand tour of symmetry in the universe: why it must be here--and what happens when it isn't." --R. L. Graham Director, Mathematical Sciences Research Center AT&T Bell Laboratories

About this title

About the Author

About the author Bryan Bunch was educated at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut) and at New York University. He is a teacher of mathematics at Pace University in New York City and President of Scientific Publishing, Inc., a scientific editorial service, and has authored, coauthored, or edited over a dozen books.

From the Inside Flap

From a snowflake to a Bach partita, a triglyceride molecule to a Shakespearean sonnet, there is handedness and direction in the way things evolve and are put together. This property of matter and energy is known as symmetry, and according to the scientific view of things, there is an intrinsic balance and order in everything, even, paradoxically, chaos. In fact, some of the most spectacular developments in modern science—such as the discovery of antimatter, for instance—have come from using the rules of mathematical symmetry to describe the suspected, symmetrical counterparts to observable phenomena. Reality’s Mirror explores symmetry in a mathematical context and illustrates its pervasiveness in the works of nature and humankind. In an engaging, often amusing style, it acquaints you with the subject from the ground up, beginning with the simple concept of line symmetry and expanding to encompass symmetry in the life sciences, art, music, psychology, and anthropology. Along the way, it painlessly familiarizes you with the mathematical concepts central to an understanding of symmetry and explains the central importance mathematical symmetry has come to have in modern physics and cosmology. Featured topics which are sure to stimulate your imagination and challenge your intellect include:

• The fourth through the eleventh dimensions, group theory, and time-reversing mirrors
• Supergravity and supersymmetry theory
• The Big Bang and the latest data on the origins of life on Earth
• Plus, symmetry games and puzzles

Well illustrated with over 50 graphs, line drawings, and graphic reproductions, and written in a way that makes even the most esoteric concepts easily digestible for the general reader, Reality’s Mirror is for anyone who has ever wondered what makes a tune memorable, a picture perfect, or an equation balance.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0471501271
• ISBN 13: 9780471501275
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 286