Explores one of the most important concepts in mathematics and science

Examines the role of symmetry in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology

Considers the scientific applications of symmetry

Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series

In the 1800s mathematicians introduced a formal theory of symmetry: group theory. Now a branch of abstract algebra, this subject first arose in the theory of equations. Symmetry is an immensely important concept in mathematics and throughout the sciences, and its applications range across the entire subject. Symmetry governs the structure of crystals, innumerable types of pattern formation, how systems change their state as parameters vary; and fundamental physics is governed by symmetries in the laws of nature.

It is highly visual, with applications that include animal markings, locomotion, evolutionary biology, elastic buckling, waves, the shape of the Earth, and the form of galaxies. In this Very Short Introduction, Ian Stewart demonstrates its deep implications, and shows how it plays a major role in the current search to unify relativity and quantum theory.

Readership: Students of mathematics, physics, and chemistry, as well as general readers interested in symmetry.