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telegraph.co.uk

Marcus du Sautoy

Finding Moonshine

Mathematical Group theory seems a pretty obscure subject, and most people probably wouldn't think of theclassification of simple groups, completed in the 1980's, as being of ny interest. If you read Marcus du Sautoy's book Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician's Journey Through Symmetry, though, then you might get to understand the enthusiasm of a small number of people for this subject.

The book is in twelve chapters, each given the name of a month of the year (starting, not with January as you might expect, but with August). Du Sautoy tells of his life as a mathematician, describing some of the problems he works on, and the experience of solving such a problem after having battled with it for months or years - but then there's always the worry that there's a hidden flaw. We also find out about his holidays, which also involve plenty of mathematics - on his visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada, du Sautoy was determined to find examples of all 17 two dimensional symmetries in the wall patterns.

A significant thread in the book is the history of symmetry, from the Platonic solids, through the development of algebra up to the work of Galois, and continuing with the development of group theory in the 19th and 20th century. The reader is thus introduced to the 'Monster' group, and its relationships with totally a separate part of mathematics - the 'Moonshine' of the title (In the USA the book is entitled Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature though.)

It's an entertaining read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a glimpse into the life of abstract mathematics with a minimum of technicalities.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 384 pages
ISBN: 0060789417
Salesrank: 149314
Weight:0.6 lbs

Published: 2009 Harper Perennial

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 400 pages
ISBN: 0007214626
Salesrank: 33114
Weight:0.62 lbs

Published: 2009 Harper Perennial

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 384 pages
ISBN: 0060789417
Salesrank: 365445
Weight:0.6 lbs

Published: 2009 Harper Perennial

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Product Description
Symmetry is all around us. Of fundamental significance to the way we interpret the world, this unique, pervasive phenomenon indicates a dynamic relationship between objects. Combining a rich historical narrative with his own personal journey as a mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy takes a unique look into the mathematical mind as he explores deep conjectures about symmetry and brings us face-to-face with the oddball mathematicians, both past and present, who have battled to understand symmetry's elusive qualities.

Product Description

Symmetry is all around us. Of fundamental significance to the way we interpret the world, this unique, pervasive phenomenon indicates a dynamic relationship between objects. Combining a rich historical narrative with his own personal journey as a mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy takes a unique look into the mathematical mind as he explores deep conjectures about symmetry and brings us face-to-face with the oddball mathematicians, both past and present, who have battled to understand symmetry's elusive qualities.

Symmetry ***
Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, takes the reader from a recognition of symmetry in nature and ornament to the ways that symmetry has been studied in the past and present. The story of du Sautoy's quest to understand symmetry includes a light history of the investigation of symmetry by mathematicians. This book should be accessible to almost anyone interested in the topic, and it may inspire further reading and study. The history segments of the book are interspersed within a modern story. The book is structured so that du Sautoy is the main character, a "maths" researcher struggling to gain insight into a difficult problem in symmetry, visiting here and there about the world, meeting with others who share his interest. As an author, he's trying to draw the reader along, giving glimpses into how a mathematician (of his type) thinks. He hopes to create an interest in his very particular problem and thereby an interest in symmetry itself; and from that interest to create an interest in the mathematical history that he inserts in his narrative. The book is sometimes longwinded and pedestrian because du Sautoy isn't always clear on how to fill in the structure he's using for the book. He has to keep up the pretense of having something interesting to say on a popular mathematics level about his personal quest, and he needs to keep adding historical detail that will lead to the modern era and give the entire story some sort of resolution and (probably: he hopes) symmetry. His insertions of history, however, sometimes only offer bloat: expansion without corresponding substance. As popular mathematics, this is sometimes okay because these are places where the reader's mind can freewheel and yet believe it's making headway through the book, which may for some readers then lower the threat level of the overall text; but judging the book as a composition, the book lacks coherence, i.e. conceptual unity. The stories of Tartaglia and Cardano, Abel, and Galois are especially lengthy and protracted, serving no mathematical purpose. They are tragic stories that tell of a mathematical triumph, and stories of conflict among mathematicians, but du Sautoy adds nothing interesting to their telling, and in fact he tells them at such a low level of intellectual sophistication, one might wonder what age or maturity he imagines his readers to be. A reader of Symmetry who has some acquaintance with group theory may anticipate the story and expect du Sautoy to tell more than he does. The structure of the book, however, seems to determine that no mathematical detail is given in the book until it's been given in the history du Sautoy is telling. So a group table does not appear in the book until the history of the mathematical investigation of symmetry has reached the point where Cayley has introduced them (chapter 8). In holding back the abstract approach to the subject, du Sautoy will frustrate readers who yearn for the high-view perspective that an abstract frame of reference provides. On the other hand, readers of another sort will appreciate the slow ascent into abstraction, and gain from du Sautoy's approach. The narrative wanders off after chapter 8, and what thread there was is lost. After raising the question of the existential value of his research in comparison to the vivid presence of science in our lives, du Sautoy, as if to prove his worth via association, spends two chapters talking about symmetry in music, biology and coding; then in the last two chapters of the book he talks about the exciting collaborative pursuit of the classification and investigation of all finite simple groups and the mystery of the large group called the monster, during which John Conway, introduced early in the book, is reintroduced. Surprisingly, du Sautoy spends this final quarter of the book without having the insight to bring back, for symmetries' sake if for no other reason, his son Tomar, who earlier in the book is a prominent person in his story.

Symmetry ***

Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, takes the reader from a recognition of symmetry in nature and ornament to the ways that symmetry has been studied in the past and present. The story of du Sautoy's quest to understand symmetry includes a light history of the investigation of symmetry by mathematicians. This book should be accessible to almost anyone interested in the topic, and it may inspire further reading and study.

The history segments of the book are interspersed within a modern story. The book is structured so that du Sautoy is the main character, a "maths" researcher struggling to gain insight into a difficult problem in symmetry, visiting here and there about the world, meeting with others who share his interest.

As an author, he's trying to draw the reader along, giving glimpses into how a mathematician (of his type) thinks. He hopes to create an interest in his very particular problem and thereby an interest in symmetry itself; and from that interest to create an interest in the mathematical history that he inserts in his narrative. The book is sometimes longwinded and pedestrian because du Sautoy isn't always clear on how to fill in the structure he's using for the book. He has to keep up the pretense of having something interesting to say on a popular mathematics level about his personal quest, and he needs to keep adding historical detail that will lead to the modern era and give the entire story some sort of resolution and (probably: he hopes) symmetry. His insertions of history, however, sometimes only offer bloat: expansion without corresponding substance. As popular mathematics, this is sometimes okay because these are places where the reader's mind can freewheel and yet believe it's making headway through the book, which may for some readers then lower the threat level of the overall text; but judging the book as a composition, the book lacks coherence, i.e. conceptual unity.

The stories of Tartaglia and Cardano, Abel, and Galois are especially lengthy and protracted, serving no mathematical purpose. They are tragic stories that tell of a mathematical triumph, and stories of conflict among mathematicians, but du Sautoy adds nothing interesting to their telling, and in fact he tells them at such a low level of intellectual sophistication, one might wonder what age or maturity he imagines his readers to be.

A reader of Symmetry who has some acquaintance with group theory may anticipate the story and expect du Sautoy to tell more than he does. The structure of the book, however, seems to determine that no mathematical detail is given in the book until it's been given in the history du Sautoy is telling. So a group table does not appear in the book until the history of the mathematical investigation of symmetry has reached the point where Cayley has introduced them (chapter 8). In holding back the abstract approach to the subject, du Sautoy will frustrate readers who yearn for the high-view perspective that an abstract frame of reference provides. On the other hand, readers of another sort will appreciate the slow ascent into abstraction, and gain from du Sautoy's approach.

The narrative wanders off after chapter 8, and what thread there was is lost. After raising the question of the existential value of his research in comparison to the vivid presence of science in our lives, du Sautoy, as if to prove his worth via association, spends two chapters talking about symmetry in music, biology and coding; then in the last two chapters of the book he talks about the exciting collaborative pursuit of the classification and investigation of all finite simple groups and the mystery of the large group called the monster, during which John Conway, introduced early in the book, is reintroduced. Surprisingly, du Sautoy spends this final quarter of the book without having the insight to bring back, for symmetries' sake if for no other reason, his son Tomar, who earlier in the book is a prominent person in his story.

A highly insightful read *****
Like some other reviewers on this page, I came to this book with certain expectations. I thought it would be a popular (yet in depth) treatment of the subject matter announced by its title. Though it proved to be a fairly detailed treatment of such, it also proved to be much more: a history of mathematics, in brief, and a kind of mathematical memoir. History of math one can find elsewhere. Overviews of symmetry and group theory one can as well (though perhaps not ones so artful as this). But the truly accessible and inspiring mathematical memoir is rare indeed. Du Sautoy leads the reader by the hand from discovery to discovery, along the way explaining the many ways that mathematicians think, write, and create, and the many drives that propel them down this most complex path of study. He does a brilliant job of humanizing a discipline that -- to the non-initiate -- could not seem more remote from ordinary experience. Time and again, in my reading, I paused to think: if only I, too, were a mathematician!

A highly insightful read *****

Like some other reviewers on this page, I came to this book with certain expectations. I thought it would be a popular (yet in depth) treatment of the subject matter announced by its title. Though it proved to be a fairly detailed treatment of such, it also proved to be much more: a history of mathematics, in brief, and a kind of mathematical memoir. History of math one can find elsewhere. Overviews of symmetry and group theory one can as well (though perhaps not ones so artful as this). But the truly accessible and inspiring mathematical memoir is rare indeed. Du Sautoy leads the reader by the hand from discovery to discovery, along the way explaining the many ways that mathematicians think, write, and create, and the many drives that propel them down this most complex path of study. He does a brilliant job of humanizing a discipline that -- to the non-initiate -- could not seem more remote from ordinary experience. Time and again, in my reading, I paused to think: if only I, too, were a mathematician!

A Disappointing Mathematical Memoir **
Symmmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature shows a lot of potential. There simply aren't many books targeted to a lay audience exploring the complex concept of symmetry. But does Sautoy deliver a successful and accessible tome outlining symmetry and the nature of mathematical patterns? Pros: Well designed cover; Interesting topic; Fusion of math & memoir Cons: Condescending tone; Frequent redundancies; Lack of preface Like most recent science and math books, Symmetry is divided into chapters with accurate and descriptive subheadings within each chapter. There are twelve chapters in all, each titled with a different month, representing the author's personal journey to turning 40 and beyond. While this is a somewhat novel arrangement for a math book, what Symmetry lacks is a preface. A preface is much appreciated at the outset of a work of non-fiction. The preface typically serves to introduce the topic at hand, as well as to provide a helpful lesson to the reader regarding any technical terms and jargon necessary to the understand the remainder of the book. Despite the lack of a preface, Sautoy does briefly define, or provide an illustration for, each of the higher level mathematical terms as they are discussed. However, even with this assistance from the author some concepts are just too advanced for a general popular readership. One such concept is the idea of greater than three-dimensional objects and space. While this concept may indeed be too difficult for all of Symmetry's readers to grasp, Sautoy's condescending tone when discussing multi-dimensional objects is wholly unnecessary and made me want to put the book down and not pick it up again. Another flaw impairing the overall readability of Symmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature is the repetitiveness of certain observations from Sautoy's mentors. While these observations are undoubtably important to Sautoy and to the concept at hand, Symmetry's audience should be given some credit. It is a rare reader that forgets what occured in Chapter 1 before completing Chapter 2, and likewise for Chapters 2 and 3. Symmetry is also nearly entirely lacking in footnotes but it does have an endnotes and a futher reading section at its conclusion which could be helpful for higher-level math students doing research projects. This book is only recommended for those with an advanced understanding of higher level mathematics and readers with a high degree of patience who can overlook a condescending tone and dull repetition.

A Disappointing Mathematical Memoir **

Symmmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature shows a lot of potential. There simply aren't many books targeted to a lay audience exploring the complex concept of symmetry. But does Sautoy deliver a successful and accessible tome outlining symmetry and the nature of mathematical patterns?

Pros: Well designed cover; Interesting topic; Fusion of math & memoir

Cons: Condescending tone; Frequent redundancies; Lack of preface

Like most recent science and math books, Symmetry is divided into chapters with accurate and descriptive subheadings within each chapter. There are twelve chapters in all, each titled with a different month, representing the author's personal journey to turning 40 and beyond.

While this is a somewhat novel arrangement for a math book, what Symmetry lacks is a preface. A preface is much appreciated at the outset of a work of non-fiction. The preface typically serves to introduce the topic at hand, as well as to provide a helpful lesson to the reader regarding any technical terms and jargon necessary to the understand the remainder of the book.

Despite the lack of a preface, Sautoy does briefly define, or provide an illustration for, each of the higher level mathematical terms as they are discussed. However, even with this assistance from the author some concepts are just too advanced for a general popular readership.

One such concept is the idea of greater than three-dimensional objects and space. While this concept may indeed be too difficult for all of Symmetry's readers to grasp, Sautoy's condescending tone when discussing multi-dimensional objects is wholly unnecessary and made me want to put the book down and not pick it up again.

Another flaw impairing the overall readability of Symmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature is the repetitiveness of certain observations from Sautoy's mentors. While these observations are undoubtably important to Sautoy and to the concept at hand, Symmetry's audience should be given some credit. It is a rare reader that forgets what occured in Chapter 1 before completing Chapter 2, and likewise for Chapters 2 and 3.

Symmetry is also nearly entirely lacking in footnotes but it does have an endnotes and a futher reading section at its conclusion which could be helpful for higher-level math students doing research projects.

This book is only recommended for those with an advanced understanding of higher level mathematics and readers with a high degree of patience who can overlook a condescending tone and dull repetition.

A Journey through the World of Symmetry *****
Du Sautoy is one of those mathematicians who can do it all. He is the best popularizer of mathematics I have read so far. I liked the way he introduces the ideas of symmetry throughout the book, one at a time, and shows their beauty and relevance. Another very cool feature of this book is that it incorporates the author's own personal journey through mathematics and his discoveries along the route of beautiful aspects of symmetry. Who can resist a guy who takes his young son to museums to show him displays of ancient artifacts and explains their mathematical properties. This is one great read.

A Journey through the World of Symmetry *****

Du Sautoy is one of those mathematicians who can do it all. He is the best popularizer of mathematics I have read so far.
I liked the way he introduces the ideas of symmetry throughout the book, one at a time, and shows their beauty and relevance.
Another very cool feature of this book is that it incorporates the author's own personal journey through mathematics and his discoveries along the route of beautiful aspects of symmetry.
Who can resist a guy who takes his young son to museums to show him displays of ancient artifacts and explains their mathematical properties.
This is one great read.

uneven ***
I had read and enjoyed the author's previous "Music of the Primes" and so gave this new work in the author's research area a read. It was not as coherent and informative as the previous work. There is an attempt to give a glimpse of what it is like to be a working mathematician and a person rather than really delving deeply into the subject matter of finite simple groups and moonshine. For the latter I found Ronan's "Symmetry and the Monster" to be excellent at bringing into view the players and the concepts. As for a portrait of a working mathematician, the present work feels incomplete like the author really hasn't gotten to a stopping point in his research that allows us to understand the journey.

uneven ***

I had read and enjoyed the author's previous "Music of the Primes" and so gave this new work in the author's research area a read. It was not as coherent and informative as the previous work. There is an attempt to give a glimpse of what it is like to be a working mathematician and a person rather than really delving deeply into the subject matter of finite simple groups and moonshine. For the latter I found Ronan's "Symmetry and the Monster" to be excellent at bringing into view the players and the concepts. As for a portrait of a working mathematician, the present work feels incomplete like the author really hasn't gotten to a stopping point in his research that allows us to understand the journey.

A touching view in the world of professional mathematics *****
You won't find equations in this book, but if want an interesting personal account of what professional mathematics is like, along with some illuminating history - both focused around symmetry - then you might enjoy this book. Mathematical literature sometimes lacks the human element, but Finding Moonshine gave me a window into the emotional life of mathematics: passion, jealousy, regret, and exhilaration. I also appreciated the way that Marcus du Sautoy writes honestly and modestly about his own endeavors and not insubstantial achievements. In summary, it made me want to understand more about mathematics, and helped me understand the fundamental role symmetry plays in mathematics and art.

A touching view in the world of professional mathematics *****

You won't find equations in this book, but if want an interesting personal account of what professional mathematics is like, along with some illuminating history - both focused around symmetry - then you might enjoy this book. Mathematical literature sometimes lacks the human element, but Finding Moonshine gave me a window into the emotional life of mathematics: passion, jealousy, regret, and exhilaration. I also appreciated the way that Marcus du Sautoy writes honestly and modestly about his own endeavors and not insubstantial achievements. In summary, it made me want to understand more about mathematics, and helped me understand the fundamental role symmetry plays in mathematics and art.

Shooting craps - he misses. **
This was a bit dissapointing for a follow on from the Music of the primes...I didn't see the point really. It started ok but then... Sorry Marcus. Now a second edition of the primes with a much better explanation of the zeta function (a full one if he could manage it) would be worth it. The TV series was poor and left me wanting more, and so did the book, and that silly spaceship he wore on the xmas lectures...thats what happens when you commercialise education!

Shooting craps - he misses. **

This was a bit dissapointing for a follow on from the Music of the primes...I didn't see the point really. It started ok but then...

Sorry Marcus. Now a second edition of the primes with a much better explanation of the zeta function (a full one if he could manage it) would be worth it. The TV series was poor and left me wanting more, and so did the book, and that silly spaceship he wore on the xmas lectures...thats what happens when you commercialise education!

so near and yet so far **
I bought this book on recommendation, because I was interested in a popular account of the Monster group. I've finally had to give up reading it, because it ultimately turns out to be a historical review of the figures involved in the long history of the mathematics of symmetry, with virtually no actual information about symmetry. All the mathematical examples are excessively verbose, making them largely impenetrable. In his attempt to "simplify" the mathematics, Marcus Du Sautoy has succeeded in removing enough information from the problems and solutions as to make them incomprehensible. At every turn, I felt that he was on the brink of giving me the information that I was looking for, only to have my hopes dashed at the start of the next section. If you are interested in the characters in this story, this is a great book, but if you are interested in the mathematics, it's virtually worthless.

so near and yet so far **

I bought this book on recommendation, because I was interested in a popular account of the Monster group. I've finally had to give up reading it, because it ultimately turns out to be a historical review of the figures involved in the long history of the mathematics of symmetry, with virtually no actual information about symmetry. All the mathematical examples are excessively verbose, making them largely impenetrable. In his attempt to "simplify" the mathematics, Marcus Du Sautoy has succeeded in removing enough information from the problems and solutions as to make them incomprehensible. At every turn, I felt that he was on the brink of giving me the information that I was looking for, only to have my hopes dashed at the start of the next section.

If you are interested in the characters in this story, this is a great book, but if you are interested in the mathematics, it's virtually worthless.

Somewhat average and a bit self-obsessed **
Du Sautoy spends far too much time blowing his own trumpet, which is tiring. He sounds a bit like the ant among the elephants: Omar Khayyam, Tartaglia, Cardano, Ferrari, Abel, Lie, Galois... their life and achievements will be fun to read for somebody who doesn't know anything about them, but otherwise the presentation of this stuff by Du Sautoy is a rather boring rehash of what has been told many times. Let us leave Conway apart, Du Sautoy's stories about him are certainly fresher. Don't get me wrong, the book has some appeal but it is flawed. Perhaps because it is written in a dull style, with misspelled words (money grabber?), serious historical errors (museums in Ancient Greece?), etc. In terms of popularising mathematical ideas, it is as clear as mud when things get a bit hairy. Of course, the subject is not easy, but I was expecting something better and more visual. "The music of the primes" was a much better book overall, although not completely satisfactory either.

Somewhat average and a bit self-obsessed **

Du Sautoy spends far too much time blowing his own trumpet, which is tiring. He sounds a bit like the ant among the elephants: Omar Khayyam, Tartaglia, Cardano, Ferrari, Abel, Lie, Galois... their life and achievements will be fun to read for somebody who doesn't know anything about them, but otherwise the presentation of this stuff by Du Sautoy is a rather boring rehash of what has been told many times. Let us leave Conway apart, Du Sautoy's stories about him are certainly fresher.

Don't get me wrong, the book has some appeal but it is flawed. Perhaps because it is written in a dull style, with misspelled words (money grabber?), serious historical errors (museums in Ancient Greece?), etc. In terms of popularising mathematical ideas, it is as clear as mud when things get a bit hairy. Of course, the subject is not easy, but I was expecting something better and more visual.

"The music of the primes" was a much better book overall, although not completely satisfactory either.

Great bridge between the history and the cutting edge *****
Again Du Sautoy brings the somewhat dry area of mathematic history to life with his passion and eagerness to share his excitement. Du Sautoy makes accessible otherwise impassable peaks of thought in the area at hand, symmetry, and nicely interweaves this with auto-biographical ruminations and fable-like tales of mathematicians of old. The mix sometimes comes across as a little contrived, but always acts as a low effort entry point to what can be complex areas, making the book again a joy to read. Recommended for anyone with even a slight mathematical interest.

Great bridge between the history and the cutting edge *****

Again Du Sautoy brings the somewhat dry area of mathematic history to life with his passion and eagerness to share his excitement.

Du Sautoy makes accessible otherwise impassable peaks of thought in the area at hand, symmetry, and nicely interweaves this with auto-biographical ruminations and fable-like tales of mathematicians of old. The mix sometimes comes across as a little contrived, but always acts as a low effort entry point to what can be complex areas, making the book again a joy to read. Recommended for anyone with even a slight mathematical interest.

universal truths *****
Symmetry, A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature Marcus du Sautoy I work as an Adlerian Psychotherapist/Feldenkrais person, in a private general practice in Toronto, Canada. Every client I work with I treat as a unique ecosystem and over time an organic commonality has become apparent. I am a stranger to mathematics and a broad spectrum reader. Reading this book was a key to the magic kingdom leapfrogging the mathematics haze straight into the clear blue sky of "what the natural world has always known, perfect symmetry is hard to obtain" (pg. 67). Spend time with Fibonacci and a snail and if you know about this already take great comfort in the clarity of presentation and if it is new to you as it was to me, take great joy in a fundamental representation of a universal truth. I would glean that in his daily life Marcus du Sautoy "tries to find the logic or the pattern that helps to generate the world I see around me". I sit by his side and together, seated on the magic carpet ride that has been his life he brings me along with him as he climbs, navigates and also relates the adventures of other memorable minds that have followed their love of nature through visiting these elementary patterns. Through their and his devotion this adventure story is told and as his reader I was left to read slower and slower as the end crept nearer and nearer my not wanting the adventure to be over. Fine collaboration is evident throughout from the touch and look to the text type and just as a master engineer constructs a rollercoaster to be exciting yet safe, the editor Mitzi Angel, has so polished this work yet leaving all the texture, clarity and liveliness it deserves. "As Descartes had declared, "sense perceptions are sense deceptions"" (pg163) ..."Mathematics is about communication" (pg198) "put in too little detail and readers will have not enough directions to help them through the maze. Yet put in too much and you swamp the readers, who will then have no clear vision of where you are trying to take them." Then, (pg208) "everything must be sign posted so that the reader doesn't get lost." True to his word, I am never lost. "Symmetries in mathmatics explain fundamental question about basic objects in nature" (pg264)... "As cells double each time, symmetry is playing a crucial role in determining the possible configurations for the new cells and ultimately for the shape of our bodies...symmetry underlies life (matter)...provides nature with an arrangement which minimizes energy"(Pg266). Thalidomide produced a poison rather than a therapeutic intervention, and I learn of and appreciate the understanding of "chirality" (pg268). "Mirror neurons fire making a copy of the action" (pg281) the common sense of mathematics, saving effort, staying alive. This is an adventure story as relevant to everyday as is a sunrise, and sunset. When I think of who would love this book: artists will enjoy the Alhambra, people who love history will enjoy this take on dramatic characters we rarely appreciate, dreamers of altered dimensions, science fiction readers, and kids who have just bumped into a good teacher and are beginning a path that includes mathematics, will have a positive rave. p.s. there is no end here, just more discoveries to be revealed and waiting for you. (pg.208) ... "understanding something...you suddenly get it, you try to convey it to others, and the hardest is translating it to the printed page." In this book is an elegant read and the author has my appreciation in delivering beautiful pages. The facts you can find elsewhere, the context and wisdom is another matter. I will be bringing the other book, `The Music of the Primes' by Marcus Du Sautoy on our summer family holiday. Kathy Vance

universal truths *****

Symmetry, A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature
Marcus du Sautoy

I work as an Adlerian Psychotherapist/Feldenkrais person, in a private general practice in Toronto, Canada. Every client I work with I treat as a unique ecosystem and over time an organic commonality has become apparent.

I am a stranger to mathematics and a broad spectrum reader. Reading this book was a key to the magic kingdom leapfrogging the mathematics haze straight into the clear blue sky of "what the natural world has always known, perfect symmetry is hard to obtain" (pg. 67). Spend time with Fibonacci and a snail and if you know about this already take great comfort in the clarity of presentation and if it is new to you as it was to me, take great joy in a fundamental representation of a universal truth.

I would glean that in his daily life Marcus du Sautoy "tries to find the logic or the pattern that helps to generate the world I see around me". I sit by his side and together, seated on the magic carpet ride that has been his life he brings me along with him as he climbs, navigates and also relates the adventures of other memorable minds that have followed their love of nature through visiting these elementary patterns. Through their and his devotion this adventure story is told and as his reader I was left to read slower and slower as the end crept nearer and nearer my not wanting the adventure to be over. Fine collaboration is evident throughout from the touch and look to the text type and just as a master engineer constructs a rollercoaster to be exciting yet safe, the editor Mitzi Angel, has so polished this work yet leaving all the texture, clarity and liveliness it deserves.

"As Descartes had declared, "sense perceptions are sense deceptions"" (pg163)
..."Mathematics is about communication" (pg198) "put in too little detail and readers will have not enough directions to help them through the maze. Yet put in too much and you swamp the readers, who will then have no clear vision of where you are trying to take them." Then, (pg208) "everything must be sign posted so that the reader doesn't get lost." True to his word, I am never lost.

"Symmetries in mathmatics explain fundamental question about basic objects in nature" (pg264)... "As cells double each time, symmetry is playing a crucial role in determining the possible configurations for the new cells and ultimately for the shape of our bodies...symmetry underlies life (matter)...provides nature with an arrangement which minimizes energy"(Pg266). Thalidomide produced a poison rather than a therapeutic intervention, and I learn of and appreciate the understanding of "chirality" (pg268). "Mirror neurons fire making a copy of the action" (pg281) the common sense of mathematics, saving effort, staying alive.

This is an adventure story as relevant to everyday as is a sunrise, and sunset. When I think of who would love this book: artists will enjoy the Alhambra, people who love history will enjoy this take on dramatic characters we rarely appreciate, dreamers of altered dimensions, science fiction readers, and kids who have just bumped into a good teacher and are beginning a path that includes mathematics, will have a positive rave.

p.s. there is no end here, just more discoveries to be revealed and waiting for you. (pg.208) ... "understanding something...you suddenly get it, you try to convey it to others, and the hardest is translating it to the printed page." In this book is an elegant read and the author has my appreciation in delivering beautiful pages. The facts you can find elsewhere, the context and wisdom is another matter. I will be bringing the other book, `The Music of the Primes' by Marcus Du Sautoy on our summer family holiday.
Kathy Vance