Symmetry Rules

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIV

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2. The Concept of Symmetry

   Pages 1-15

3. Science Is Founded on Symmetry

   Pages 17-38

4. Symmetry in Physics

   Pages 39-79

5. The Symmetry Principle

   Pages 81-105

6. Application of Symmetry

   Pages 107-130

7. Approximate Symmetry, Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

   Pages 131-140

8. Cosmic Considerations

   Pages 141-160

9. The Mathematics of Symmetry: Group Theory

   Pages 161-194

10. Group Theory Continued

    Pages 195-226

11. The Formalism of Symmetry

    Pages 227-259

12. Symmetry in Processes

    Pages 261-281

13. Summary of Principles

    Pages 283-287

14. Back Matter

    Pages 289-305

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Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand–British physicist, 1871–1937), the 1908 Nobel Laureate who discovered the existence of atomic nuclei, is famously quoted as having said: “Physics is the only real science. All the rest is butter?y collecting.” Or something to that e?ect. I like to include this quote in my introductory remarks at the ?rst class meetings of the physics courses I teach. I have seen that there are those whointerpret this as a put-down of amateurs (butter?y collectors) in science. However, my own interp- tation of Rutherford’s statement is that he is claiming that, except for physics, all of the rest of science is involved merely in collecting facts and classifying them (butter?y collecting). It is physics, uniqueamong the sciences, that is attempting to ?nd explanations for the classi?ed data. The periodic table of the chemical elements, originally proposed by DmitriIvanovichMendeleev(Russianchemist,1834–1907), presentsan example of this. Chemists toiled to discover the chemical elements and their properties and then classi?ed the elements in the scheme that is expressed by the periodic table. Here was the chemists’ butter?y collecting. It took physicists to explaintheperiodictablebymeansof quantum theory.

• Foundations of science
• Group theory
• Science
• Symmetry
• Theoretical physics

From the reviews:

"Symmetry Rules is a sophisticated monograph based on the special personal perspective of theoretical physicist Rosen … . The fundamental notion is that nature may be broken into isolated systems, and that nature may be understood as the sum of its parts. … The book includes a detailed presentation of group theory, which lends a distinctive view of nature. … This book belongs in good college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections." (K. L. Schick, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (01), September, 2008)

• Rockville, USA

  Joe Rosen

A theoretical physicist, Joe Rosen was for many years a member of the School of Physics and Astronomy of Tel Aviv University and also served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Central Arkansas. He has authored or edited eleven books, and many of his publications have dealt with various aspects of symmetry in physics and in science. Now semi-retired from academe, Joe Rosen is involved in research, writing, and physics teaching as adjunct professor at universities and colleges in the Washington DC area.

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