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Symmetry and the beautiful universe. (English) Zbl 1073.83050

Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books (ISBN 1-59102-242-8/hbk). 363 p. (2004).
Symmetry is a word that causes many associations. Most people think of music, dance, poetry painting, architecture etc. Mathematicians and natural scientists, moreover, are reminded of abstract mathematical and matter structures. It is just its breadth that makes it difficult to give a general definition of symmetry. Well knowing that a definition like “equivalence or equality between things”, would not be very helpful, the authors acknowledge the concept of symmetry as profound ramification for art, music etc., but confine themselves mainly on the field of their own profession, namely on physics.
In physics, a system is said to possess a symmetry if it is invariant under certain transformations, where the necessary notions like invariance etc. are delivered by mathematics which is a necessary language of physics. Consequently, the introduction of the book contains a tribute to Emmy Noether. Her famous theorem “cleanly and clearly unites symmetry with the complex dynamics of physics”. In virtue of its importance, the authors return again and again to Noether and her work.
Using symmetry as their grand guide, the authors present an elegant and very readable tour of cosmology and modern physics. where the standard model of current cosmology is assumed to describe our “beautiful universe”. The themes of the book reach from ancient world pictures of natural philosophy over the beginning of modern physics in its classical phase till modern developments concerning quarks, supersymmetry and the grand unification of all physical laws.
The present book contains historical references and some philosophical remarks on the foundation of physics. But it should not be understood as a history of physics or as a text with a genuinely philosophical touch or intention. As the reviewer believes, all such references and remarks are made to make the today’s world view of physics plausible and most refined physical theories understandable to a great, also non-professional community. As a result, the authors, both top physicists, wrote an eloquent and illuminating work of popular science.

MSC:

83F05 Relativistic cosmology
00A79 Physics
83-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to relativity and gravitational theory
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