Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician's Journey Through Symmetry |
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Author:
Marcus du Sautoy
By HarperPerennial
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £1.99
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 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.
 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.
a good book on maths, 2008-06-25
The book symmetry and finding moonshine in one reviewers entry they said they are the same book word for word that is true because one is the American release and the other the uk release, it is the same book. It is not a surprise that the publisher in the states would not use the title finding moonshine. Prof Du sautoy does a wonderful job in communicating maths and makes me wish i knew more about maths. Well written and i would encourage those who are thinking of buying to just go out and buy it.
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!
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.
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780007214624
ISBN: 0007214626
Label: HarperPerennial
Manufacturer: HarperPerennial
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2009-05-14
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Studio: HarperPerennial |
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