The Symmetries Of Things

Author : John H. Conway,Heidi Burgiel,Chaim Goodman-Strauss
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 442 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2016-04-05
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781439864890

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The Symmetries of Things by John H. Conway,Heidi Burgiel,Chaim Goodman-Strauss Pdf

Start with a single shape. Repeat it in some way—translation, reflection over a line, rotation around a point—and you have created symmetry. Symmetry is a fundamental phenomenon in art, science, and nature that has been captured, described, and analyzed using mathematical concepts for a long time. Inspired by the geometric intuition of Bill Thurston and empowered by his own analytical skills, John Conway, with his coauthors, has developed a comprehensive mathematical theory of symmetry that allows the description and classification of symmetries in numerous geometric environments. This richly and compellingly illustrated book addresses the phenomenological, analytical, and mathematical aspects of symmetry on three levels that build on one another and will speak to interested lay people, artists, working mathematicians, and researchers.

Author : Frank A. Farris
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2015-06-02
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781400865673

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Creating Symmetry by Frank A. Farris Pdf

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.

Author : Jakob Schwichtenberg
Publisher : Springer
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2017-12-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319666310

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Physics from Symmetry by Jakob Schwichtenberg Pdf

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.

Author : Jeanette Winterson
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2013-04-17
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780307763631

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Gut Symmetries by Jeanette Winterson Pdf

The highwire artist of the English novel redraws the romantic triangle for the post-Einsteinian universe, where gender is as elastic as matter, and any accurate Grand Unified Theory (GUT) must encompass desire alongside electromagnetism and gravity. One starry night on a boat in the mid-Atlantic, Alice, a brilliant English theoretical physicist, begins an affair with Jove, her remorselessly seductive American counterpart. But Jove is married. When Alice confronts his wife, Stella, she swiftly falls in love with her, with consequences that are by turns horrifying, comic, and arousing. Vaulting from Liverpool to New York, from alchemy to string theory, and from the spirit to the flesh, Gut Symmetries is a thrillingly original novel by England's most flamboyantly gifted young writer. "Winterson is unmatched among contemporary writers in her ability to conjure up new-world wonder...A beautiful, stirring and brilliant story."--Times Literary Supplement "Dazzling for [its] intelligence and inventiveness...[Winterson] is possessed of a masterly command of the language and a truly pliant imagination."--Elle "One of our most brilliant, visionary storytellers."--San Francisco Chronicle

Author : R. McWeeny
Publisher : Elsevier
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2013-09-03
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781483226248

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Symmetry by R. McWeeny Pdf

Symmetry: An Introduction to Group Theory and its Application is an eight-chapter text that covers the fundamental bases, the development of the theoretical and experimental aspects of the group theory. Chapter 1 deals with the elementary concepts and definitions, while Chapter 2 provides the necessary theory of vector spaces. Chapters 3 and 4 are devoted to an opportunity of actually working with groups and representations until the ideas already introduced are fully assimilated. Chapter 5 looks into the more formal theory of irreducible representations, while Chapter 6 is concerned largely with quadratic forms, illustrated by applications to crystal properties and to molecular vibrations. Chapter 7 surveys the symmetry properties of functions, with special emphasis on the eigenvalue equation in quantum mechanics. Chapter 8 covers more advanced applications, including the detailed analysis of tensor properties and tensor operators. This book is of great value to mathematicians, and math teachers and students.

Author : Diane L. Herrmann,Paul J. Sally, Jr.
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2012-10-18
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781466554641

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Number, Shape, & Symmetry by Diane L. Herrmann,Paul J. Sally, Jr. Pdf

Through a careful treatment of number theory and geometry, Number, Shape, & Symmetry: An Introduction to Number Theory, Geometry, and Group Theory helps readers understand serious mathematical ideas and proofs. Classroom-tested, the book draws on the authors’ successful work with undergraduate students at the University of Chicago, seventh to tenth grade mathematically talented students in the University of Chicago’s Young Scholars Program, and elementary public school teachers in the Seminars for Endorsement in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME). The first half of the book focuses on number theory, beginning with the rules of arithmetic (axioms for the integers). The authors then present all the basic ideas and applications of divisibility, primes, and modular arithmetic. They also introduce the abstract notion of a group and include numerous examples. The final topics on number theory consist of rational numbers, real numbers, and ideas about infinity. Moving on to geometry, the text covers polygons and polyhedra, including the construction of regular polygons and regular polyhedra. It studies tessellation by looking at patterns in the plane, especially those made by regular polygons or sets of regular polygons. The text also determines the symmetry groups of these figures and patterns, demonstrating how groups arise in both geometry and number theory. The book is suitable for pre-service or in-service training for elementary school teachers, general education mathematics or math for liberal arts undergraduate-level courses, and enrichment activities for high school students or math clubs.

Author : Branko Grünbaum,Geoffrey Colin Shephard
Publisher : W H Freeman & Company
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 0716719983

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Tilings and Patterns by Branko Grünbaum,Geoffrey Colin Shephard Pdf

Tilings and Patterns: An Introduction presents in convenient paperback form the first half of Tilings and Patterns. Omitting the more specialized material of the earlier volume, this abbreviated edition make's the authors' contributions to tiling theory and its practical applications accessible to a wide audience.

Author : György Darvas
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2022-01-01
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9783030880590

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Complex Symmetries by György Darvas Pdf

This volume is a collection of essays on complex symmetries. It is curated, emphasizing the analysis of the symmetries, not the various phenomena that display those symmetries themselves. With this, the volume provides insight to nonspecialist readers into how individual simple symmetries constitute complex symmetry. The authors and the topics cover many different disciplines in various sciences and arts. Simple symmetries, such as reflection, rotation, translation, similitude, and a few other simple manifestations of the phenomenon, are all around, and we are aware of them in our everyday lives. However, there are myriads of complex symmetries (composed of a bulk of simple symmetries) as well. For example, the well-known helix represents the combination of translational and rotational symmetry. Nature produces a great variety of such complex symmetries. So do the arts. The contributions in this volume analyse selected examples (not limited to geometric symmetries). These include physical symmetries, functional (meaning not morphological) symmetries, such as symmetries in the construction of the genetic code, symmetries in human perception (e.g., in geometry education as well as in constructing physical theories), symmetries in fractal structures and structural morphology, including quasicrystal and fullerene structures in stable bindings and their applications in crystallography and architectural design, as well as color symmetries in the arts. The volume is rounded of with beautiful illustrations and presents a fascinating panorama of this interdisciplinary topic.

Author : Klaus Mainzer
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 696 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2013-12-02
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783110886931

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Symmetries of Nature by Klaus Mainzer Pdf

Author : Istvan Hargittai,Magdolna Hargittai
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 475 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2007-08-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780585312347

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Symmetry through the Eyes of a Chemist by Istvan Hargittai,Magdolna Hargittai Pdf

We have been gratified by the warm reception of our book, by reviewers, colleagues, and students alike. Our interest in the subject matter of this book has not decreased since its first appearance; on the contrary. The first and second editions envelop eight other symmetry-related books in the creation of which we have participated: I. Hargittai (ed.), Symmetry: Unifying Human Understanding, Pergamon Press, New York, 1986. I. Hargittai and B. K. Vainshtein (eds.), Crystal Symmetries. Shubnikov Centennial Papers, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1988. M. Hargittai and I. Hargittai, Fedezziikf6l a szimmetri6t! (Discover Sym- try, in Hungarian), Tank6nyvkiad6, Budapest, 1989. I. Hargittai (ed.), Symmetry 2: Unifying Human Understanding, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1989. I. Hargittai (ed.), Quasicrystals, Networks, and Molecules of Fivefold Sym- try, VCH, New York, 1990. I. Hargittai (ed.), Fivefold Symmetry, World Scientific, Singapore, 1992. I. Hargittai and C. A. Pickover (eds.), Spiral Symmetry, World Scientific, Singapore, 1992. I. Hargittai and M. Hargittai, Symmetry: A Unifying Concept, Shelter Publi- tions, Bolinas, California, 1994. We have also pursued our molecular structure research, and some books have appeared related to these activities: vi Preface to the Second Edition I. Hargittai and M. Hargittai (eds.), Stereochemical Applications of Gas-Phase Electron Diffraction, Parts A and B, VCH, New York, 1988. R. Gillespie and I. Hargittai, VSEPR Model of Molecular Geometry, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 1991. A. Domenicano and I. Hargittai (eds.), Accurate Molecular Structures, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992.

Author : Ian Stewart
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 152 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2013-05-30
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780191652745

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Symmetry: A Very Short Introduction by Ian Stewart Pdf

In the 1800s mathematicians introduced a formal theory of symmetry: group theory. Now a branch of abstract algebra, this subject first arose in the theory of equations. Symmetry is an immensely important concept in mathematics and throughout the sciences, and its applications range across the entire subject. Symmetry governs the structure of crystals, innumerable types of pattern formation, how systems change their state as parameters vary; and fundamental physics is governed by symmetries in the laws of nature. It is highly visual, with applications that include animal markings, locomotion, evolutionary biology, elastic buckling, waves, the shape of the Earth, and the form of galaxies. In this Very Short Introduction, Ian Stewart demonstrates its deep implications, and shows how it plays a major role in the current search to unify relativity and quantum theory. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Leon M. Lederman,Christopher T. Hill
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 363 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2011-11-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781615920419

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Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe by Leon M. Lederman,Christopher T. Hill Pdf

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.

Author : Hermann Weyl
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2015-07-06
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781400874347

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Symmetry by Hermann Weyl Pdf

Symmetry is a classic study of symmetry in mathematics, the sciences, nature, and art from one of the twentieth century's greatest mathematicians. Hermann Weyl explores the concept of symmetry beginning with the idea that it represents a harmony of proportions, and gradually departs to examine its more abstract varieties and manifestations—as bilateral, translatory, rotational, ornamental, and crystallographic. Weyl investigates the general abstract mathematical idea underlying all these special forms, using a wealth of illustrations as support. Symmetry is a work of seminal relevance that explores the great variety of applications and importance of symmetry.

Author : Paul Steinhardt
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2020-01-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781476729930

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The Second Kind of Impossible by Paul Steinhardt Pdf

*Shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize* One of the most fascinating scientific detective stories of the last fifty years, an exciting quest for a new form of matter. “A riveting tale of derring-do” (Nature), this book reads like James Gleick’s Chaos combined with an Indiana Jones adventure. When leading Princeton physicist Paul Steinhardt began working in the 1980s, scientists thought they knew all the conceivable forms of matter. The Second Kind of Impossible is the story of Steinhardt’s thirty-five-year-long quest to challenge conventional wisdom. It begins with a curious geometric pattern that inspires two theoretical physicists to propose a radically new type of matter—one that raises the possibility of new materials with never before seen properties, but that violates laws set in stone for centuries. Steinhardt dubs this new form of matter “quasicrystal.” The rest of the scientific community calls it simply impossible. The Second Kind of Impossible captures Steinhardt’s scientific odyssey as it unfolds over decades, first to prove viability, and then to pursue his wildest conjecture—that nature made quasicrystals long before humans discovered them. Along the way, his team encounters clandestine collectors, corrupt scientists, secret diaries, international smugglers, and KGB agents. Their quest culminates in a daring expedition to a distant corner of the Earth, in pursuit of tiny fragments of a meteorite forged at the birth of the solar system. Steinhardt’s discoveries chart a new direction in science. They not only change our ideas about patterns and matter, but also reveal new truths about the processes that shaped our solar system. The underlying science is important, simple, and beautiful—and Steinhardt’s firsthand account is “packed with discovery, disappointment, exhilaration, and persistence...This book is a front-row seat to history as it is made” (Nature).

Author : Mark Ronan
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2007-07-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9780192807236

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Symmetry and the Monster by Mark Ronan Pdf

In an exciting, fast-paced historical narrative ranging across two centuries, Ronan takes readers on an exhilarating tour of this final mathematical quest to understand symmetry.