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Informationen zum Autor Marcus du Sautoy has been named by the Independent on Sunday as one of the UK's leading scientists, has written extensively for the Guardian, The Times and the Daily Telegraph and has appeared on Radio 4 on numerous occasions. In 2008 he was appointed to Oxford University’s prestigious professorship as the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins. Klappentext From fundamental particles to our ideas of art, from insect life to architecture and from the Alhambra to football, in 'Finding Moonshine', Marcus du Sautoy explores what is perhaps the most significant concept in mathematics: symmetry. Following the eccentric individuals who have quested after symmetry through the ages, we are plunged into a very particular world: one of bearded professors and young geniuses killed in duels, of 196,883 dimensional shapes (known as the Monster) and of exhilarations unique to mathematical investigation. Grappling with some of the most complex ideas the human mind can encompass, 'Finding Moonshine' brilliantly combines mathematical insight with personal stories - and allows us to see the world just a little more as mathematicians do. Zusammenfassung 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.
Report
'If you don't experience a thrill of foreboding as du Sautoy ventures into this twilit territory, nothing in maths will be for you. Even if the thought of sitting down to a quintic equation makes you want to cry, it would still be hard to resist Moonshine's cocktail of anecdote, swashbuckling potted history and haphazard self-revelation. The moments of autobiographical intimacy bring the book to life...a joy.' Daily Telegraph
'Mesmerising...articulate, fluent, funny and personable, [du Sautoy] is also absolutely passionate about mathematics, with a burning desire to make the rest of us as excited as he is about its problems, its patterns and its beauty. He captures for us with brilliant vividness the excitement of the pursuit of a solution to a difficult problem.' Lisa Jardine, Sunday Times
'A fascinating and absorbing read.' Financial Times
'A marvellous account...these exasperating people with unkempt beards, untidy clothes, impossible manners and extraordinary obsessions, become, in this narrative, ultimately enviable.' Guardian
