An eminent teacher and writer explores an idea both simple and complex, both multidisciplinary and unifying--the story of symmetry.
At the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory, and much of modern cosmology lies one concept: symmetry.
In Why Beauty Is Truth, world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study. Stewart introduces us to such characters as the Renaissance Italian genius, rogue, scholar, and gambler Girolamo Cardano, who stole the modern method of solving cubic equations and published it in the first important book on algebra, and the young revolutionary Evariste Galois, who refashioned the whole of mathematics and founded the field of group theory only to die in a pointless duel over a woman before his work was published.
Stewart also explores the strange numerology of real mathematics, in which particular numbers have unique and unpredictable properties related to symmetry. He shows how Wilhelm Killing discovered "Lie groups" with 14, 52, 78, 133, and 248 dimensions--groups whose very existence is a profound puzzle. Finally, Stewart describes the world beyond superstrings: the "octonionic" symmetries that may explain the very existence of the universe.

This text remains one of the clearest, most authoritative and most accurate works in the field. The standard history treats hundreds of figures and schools instrumental in the development of mathematics, from the Phoenicians to such 19th-century giants as Grassman, Galois, and Riemann.

Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Poets to potentates, seers to sailors, fishermen to foresters—all have a relationship with this great body of gray and heaving sea. Winchester chronicles that relationship, making the Atlantic come vividly alive. More than a mere history, Atlantic is an unforgettable journey of unprecedented scope by one of the most gifted writers in the English language.

Carolrhoda's best-selling Creative Minds Biographies series appeals to a wide range of readers. Written in story format, these biographies also include inviting black-and-white illustrations.

In 1942, Lt. Herman H. Goldstine, a former mathematics professor, was stationed at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. It was there that he assisted in the creation of the ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer. The ENIAC was operational in 1945, but plans for a new computer were already underway. The principal source of ideas for the new computer was John von Neumann, who became Goldstine's chief collaborator. Together they developed EDVAC, successor to ENIAC. After World War II, at the Institute for Advanced Study, they built what was to become the prototype of the present-day computer. Herman Goldstine writes as both historian and scientist in this first examination of the development of computing machinery, from the seventeenth century through the early 1950s. His personal involvement lends a special authenticity to his narrative, as he sprinkles anecdotes and stories liberally through his text.</p>

This unique study makes an important contribution to our understanding of the changing problem of 'Jewishness' in a German environment as it presented itself to a privileged group of Jews. Following on from Jews in the German Economy (OUP, 1987), which analysed the economic activities of this elite, it presents a detailed picture of the group's socio-cultural profile. Based largely on autobiographical material, it covers such matters as attitudes to Judaism, relations at different levels with Gentiles and with other Jews, marriage patterns, the public role, political culture, cultural activities, and patronage. The major underlying theme is the conflict between preservation of the Jewish identity, and integration into the surrounding society. Different forms of self-identification are examined, as well as various patterns of conformity.