Inhaltsangabe

Introductory chapters.- Symmetry, invariance, harmony.- Historical Survey.- Symmetry in geometrical decorative art.- The golden section.- Interdisciplinary applications.- Fibonacci numbers in nature.- Perfection and beauty.- The mystery of fivefold symmetry.- From viruses to fullerene molecules.- Symmetry in Inanimate Nature.- Cosmological symmetries.- Sight and Hearing.- Symmetries and symmetry breakings in inanimate nature.- The road from nature to man.- Chirality.- Cerebral asymmetries.- Human Creativity.- Beauty and truth.- Rationality and impression.

Rezension

From the book reviews:

This new monograph on Symmetry is warmly recommended to readers either with background in mathematics, science, engineering or humanities, or simply to those who are just interested in a concept overarching and unifying all these disciplines. (Gábor Gévay, Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (Szeged), Vol. 76 (3-4), 2010)

An accessible semi-popular book aimed at general audience. Indeed, one can find very few mathematical equations throughout the book and instead it abounds with explicit examples and beautiful illustrations. Many aspects of symmetry are nicely illustrated by hundreds of figures, often using Escher works. This book can serve as an excellent survey of the topic not only for mathematicians, physicists and engineers but also to experts and students in humanities. (Vojt ch Pravda, Applications of Mathematics, Vol. 54 (4), 2009)

The author manages it to give a far-reaching insight into this interdisciplinary field . a very readable and fascinating book which is accessible to nearly everyone, the necessary mathematical background being reduced to a minimum. (G. Kowol, Monatshefte für Mathematik, Vol. 154 (4), August, 2008)

"This complete and beautifully presented book...relies little on mathematics but offers a bevy of vivid examples and eye catching illustrations...This deep exploration on the fascinating subject of symmetry takes a historical overview. It ranges from the pottery motifs of the misty past to more recent discoveries and applications in particle and high-energy physics, structural and biochemistry chemistry, genetics, brain research, business decision making, and more. The author starts from the very basic definitions of symmetry: reflection, rotation, and translation. From there the mathematical concepts never get beyond anything more complex than Euler's Polyhedral Formula...

Among the liberal excursions into photographic and illustrated examples of symmetry, many are reproduced in full color in a dedicated final section to the book. Other final sections include a long bibliography of related works and indexes by both name and subject. As a result, this book serves not only as enlightening and entertaining reading that can be entered into at any point, but a good reference work on symmetry." MAA Reviews

Klappentext

The first comprehensive book on the topic in half a century explores recent symmetry and symmetry breaking related discoveries, and discusses the questions and answers they raise in diverse disciplines: particle and high-energy physics, structural chemistry and the biochemistry of proteins, in genetic code study, in brain research, and also in architectural structures, and business decision making, to mention only a few examples.