Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature

Science News,  March 15, 2008  

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SYMMETRY: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature MARCUS DU SAUTOY

Anyone who's stared at an M.C. Escher print knows the allure of geometrical symmetry. Bumblebees, too, prefer to pollinate symmetrical flowers, and many ancient cultures based buildings, decorations, and games on balanced forms. For Oxford University mathematician du Sautoy, symmetry is expressed in numbers and symbols as well. Each chapter begins as a memoir--a month in the Fife of a symmetry-obsessed mathematician. Fortunately, du Sautoy strays from this gimmick long enough to give readers an immensely fascinating history of the mathematics of symmetry. The ancient Greeks were the first to rigorously study symmetry, and the mathematician Theaetetus--described as a contemporary and friend to Plato--proved all three-dimensional dice (shapes having symmetry) possible could be formed from five basic shapes. More recently, the field's quirky modern practitioners have grappled with less concrete forms, including an object that has roughly 8 X [10.sup.53] symmetries (see page 25 for the exact number). This object is aptly named the Monster. Harper, 2008, 376 p., hardcover, $25.95.

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