Symmetry and the Monster：The Story of One of the Greatest Quests of Mathematics

Mathematicsisbeingdrivenforwardbythequesttosolveasmallnumberofmajorproblems-generatingexcitementinthemathematicalworldandbeyond.FourfamouschallengeshavebeenFermat'sLastTheorem,theReimannHypothesis,Poincare'sConjecture,and,now,thequestforthe'Monster'ofSymmetry.Itisthislatterthatformsthetopicofthisbook.Althoughitsrootsgobackmuchfurther,thequesttounderstandsymmetryreallybeginswiththetragicyounggeniusEvaristeGalois,whodiedattheageof20inaduel.Heusedsymmetrytounderstandalgebraicequations,andhediscoveredthattherewerebuildingblocksor'atomsofsymmetry'.Mostfitintoatable,ratherliketheperiodictableofelements,butthereare26exceptions.Thebiggestofthesewasdubbed'theMonster'-agiantsnowflakein196,884dimensions.AtfirsttheMonsterwasonlydimlyseen.Diditreallyexist,orwasitamirage?Manymathematiciansbecameinvolved.TheMonsterbecameclearer,anditwasnolongermonstrousbutabeautifulformthatpointedoutdeepconnectionsbetweensymmetry,stringtheory,andtheveryfabricandformoftheuniverse.Thestoryofthediscoveryinvolvessomeextraordinarycharacters,andMarkRonanbringsthesepeopletolife,andrecreatesinaccessiblelanguagethegrowingexcitementofwhatbecamethebiggestjointprojecteverinthefieldofmathematics-thehuntfortheMonster.