Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician's Journey Through Symmetry |
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Author:
Marcus Du Sautoy
By Harper Perennial
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £1.36
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Product Description
This new book from the author of 'The Music of the Primes' combines a personal insight into the mind of a working mathematician with the story of one of the biggest adventures in mathematics: the search for symmetry.
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 Somewhat average and a bit self-obsessed, 2009-07-27
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, 2009-07-12
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.
Shooting craps - he misses., 2010-02-23
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!
A touching view in the world of professional mathematics, 2010-07-20
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.
so near and yet so far, 2009-09-22
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.
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780007214624
ISBN: 0007214626
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2009-05-14
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Studio: Harper Perennial |
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