Fearless Symmetry

Fearless Symmetry
Author: Avner Ash
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2008-08-24
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0691138710

Written in a friendly style for a general mathematically literate audience, 'Fearless Symmetry', starts with the basic properties of integers and permutations and reaches current research in number theory.

Number, Shape, & Symmetry

Number, Shape, & Symmetry
Author: Diane L. Herrmann
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2012-10-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1466554649

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.

Numbers and Symmetry

Numbers and Symmetry
Author: Bernard L. Johnston
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2020-07-25
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1000153371

This textbook presents modern algebra from the ground up using numbers and symmetry. The idea of a ring and of a field are introduced in the context of concrete number systems. Groups arise from considering transformations of simple geometric objects. The analysis of symmetry provides the student with a visual introduction to the central algebraic notion of isomorphism. Designed for a typical one-semester undergraduate course in modern algebra, it provides a gentle introduction to the subject by allowing students to see the ideas at work in accessible examples, rather than plunging them immediately into a sea of formalism. The student is involved at once with interesting algebraic structures, such as the Gaussian integers and the various rings of integers modulo n, and is encouraged to take the time to explore and become familiar with those structures. In terms of classical algebraic structures, the text divides roughly into three parts:

Symmetry

Symmetry
Author: Kristopher Tapp
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2021-08-28
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3030516695

This textbook is perfect for a math course for non-math majors, with the goal of encouraging effective analytical thinking and exposing students to elegant mathematical ideas. It includes many topics commonly found in sampler courses, like Platonic solids, Euler’s formula, irrational numbers, countable sets, permutations, and a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. All of these topics serve a single compelling goal: understanding the mathematical patterns underlying the symmetry that we observe in the physical world around us. The exposition is engaging, precise and rigorous. The theorems are visually motivated with intuitive proofs appropriate for the intended audience. Students from all majors will enjoy the many beautiful topics herein, and will come to better appreciate the powerful cumulative nature of mathematics as these topics are woven together into a single fascinating story about the ways in which objects can be symmetric.

Why Beauty Is Truth

Why Beauty Is Truth
Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2008-04-29
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0465082378

Physics.

Creating Symmetry

Creating Symmetry
Author: Frank A. Farris
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2015-06-02
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1400865670

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.

The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved

The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved
Author: Mario Livio
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2005-09-19
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0743274628

The author of The Golden Ratio tells the “lively and fascinating” story of two nineteenth-century mathematicians whose work revealed the laws of symmetry (Nature). What do Bach’s compositions, Rubik’s Cube, the way we choose our mates, and the physics of subatomic particles have in common? All are governed by the laws of symmetry, which elegantly unify scientific and artistic principles. Yet the mathematical language of symmetry—known as group theory—did not emerge from the study of symmetry at all, but from an equation that couldn’t be solved. For three centuries, the quintic equation resisted efforts by mathematicians to find a solution. Working independently, two great prodigies ultimately proved that it couldn’t be solved by a simple formula. These geniuses, a Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel and a romantic Frenchman named Évariste Galois, both died tragically young. Their incredible labor, however, produced the origins of group theory. The first extensive, popular account of the mathematics of symmetry and order, The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved is told not through abstract formulas but in a dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest mathematicians in history.

Geometry and Symmetry

Geometry and Symmetry
Author: Paul B. Yale
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014-05-05
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0486169324

DIVIntroduction to the geometry of euclidean, affine and projective spaces with special emphasis on the important groups of symmetries of these spaces. Many exercises, extensive bibliography. Advanced undergraduate level. /div

Mathematical Logic

Mathematical Logic
Author: Roman Kossak
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2018-10-03
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3319972987

This book, presented in two parts, offers a slow introduction to mathematical logic, and several basic concepts of model theory, such as first-order definability, types, symmetries, and elementary extensions. Its first part, Logic Sets, and Numbers, shows how mathematical logic is used to develop the number structures of classical mathematics. The exposition does not assume any prerequisites; it is rigorous, but as informal as possible. All necessary concepts are introduced exactly as they would be in a course in mathematical logic; but are accompanied by more extensive introductory remarks and examples to motivate formal developments. The second part, Relations, Structures, Geometry, introduces several basic concepts of model theory, such as first-order definability, types, symmetries, and elementary extensions, and shows how they are used to study and classify mathematical structures. Although more advanced, this second part is accessible to the reader who is either already familiar with basic mathematical logic, or has carefully read the first part of the book. Classical developments in model theory, including the Compactness Theorem and its uses, are discussed. Other topics include tameness, minimality, and order minimality of structures. The book can be used as an introduction to model theory, but unlike standard texts, it does not require familiarity with abstract algebra. This book will also be of interest to mathematicians who know the technical aspects of the subject, but are not familiar with its history and philosophical background.