Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Symmetry and the Monster: One of the greatest quests of mathematics

By Mark Ronan.

I took a lot of Group & Ring theory in University. What I like about the book Symmetry and the Monster is that it discusses much of the history behind Group theory. I got a better sense of the people who were involved and the problems they were trying to solve.

Said another way, in school I learnt many mathematical theories that could be used to do various things, or solve various problems. SATM tells the story of these people, and the problems they were trying to solve.

My one complaint is that the author sometimes uses easy to remember phrases instead of technical terms. While it makes things a little easier to read, it also makes it more difficult for me to branch out from the book, to the actual mathematics being discussed.

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