Overview
Symmetry is an ideal topic for a one semester math course for non-math majors
Includes many topics commonly found in sampler courses, but weaves these topics into a single compelling story about symmetry
Encourages effective analytical thinking and exposes non-math majors to elegant mathematical ideas
Contains excellent exercises for the intended audience; these exercises should help students attain good understanding of the main points
Hints of humor and easily accessible language coupled with a plethora of exercises provides the necessary motivation for a non-math major in a math-oriented class
Contains hundreds of beautiful illustrations
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Cantor’s theorem
- Cayley table
- Euclidean space
- Euler characteristic
- Platonic solid
- Pythagorean Theorem
- Symmetry
- alternating group
- chirality
- group theory
- irrational number
- isomorphism
- isoperimetric
- linear algebra
- orthogonal matrix
- permutation
- planar graph
- prime number
- real number
- reflection
- rotation
- symmetry group
- transformational geometry
- uncountable
- wallpaper pattern
About this book
This textbook is perfect for a math course for non-math majors, with the goal of encouraging effective analytical thinking and exposing students to elegant mathematical ideas. It includes many topics commonly found in sampler courses, like Platonic solids, Euler’s formula, irrational numbers, countable sets, permutations, and a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. All of these topics serve a single compelling goal: understanding the mathematical patterns underlying the symmetry that we observe in the physical world around us.
The exposition is engaging, precise and rigorous. The theorems are visually motivated with intuitive proofs appropriate for the intended audience. Students from all majors will enjoy the many beautiful topics herein, and will come to better appreciate the powerful cumulative nature of mathematics as these topics are woven together into a single fascinating story about the ways in which objects can be symmetric.
Reviews
From the reviews:
“The author starts with a very concrete introduction to symmetry in the plane, using rigid motions for a definition. … The book can serve very well as an introduction to algebraic combinatorics for math students and also for many interested students of other fields, specially Computer Science and natural sciences.” (Ulrich Knaner, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1233, 2012)
“In this book Tapp uses a large number of high-quality colored images to illustrate various properties derived from symmetry as well as to introduce students to the supporting mathematics … . a vital resource for teachers of children as they try to get young minds interested in learning mathematics. … an excellent text for math courses for non-math majors, as it will teach them math without seeming to do so. Artists, in particular, will find a great deal that they can apply in their work.” (Charles Ashbacher, The Mathematical Association of America, February, 2012)
“This textbook provides a great journey to the wonderful world of symmetry and shows how to understand and study it. … The textbook is suitable for both mathematics and non-mathematics majors, as only high school algebra is needed to understand the material. All necessary definitions and notations are provided and highlighted, so it is not difficult to find them if needed. … this textbook can also be beneficial for graduate students and undergraduates who take upper-level classes in mathematics.” (Natali Hritonenko, Mathematical Reviews, January, 2013)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Symmetry
Book Subtitle: A Mathematical Exploration
Authors: Kristopher Tapp
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0299-2
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-4247-3Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4614-0299-2Published: 02 December 2011
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 215
Topics: Mathematics, general, Geometry, Mathematics in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics in Art and Architecture