商品簡介
Traces the concept of symmetry as it emerges in an examination of basic questions in philosophy of nature and science. Chapter One deals with the early history of symmetry up to the beginning of the modern natural sciences in the Renaissance, covering non-European cultures as well. Chapter Two treats the discrete symmetries of crystals from the point of view of group theory. Chapter Three examines the symmetries of classical physics. Chapter Four deals with symmetry concepts in modern physics and natural science. The fifth chapter discusses to what degree human knowledge, inquiry, and action are determined by symmetry principles. Originally published in 1988 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, this is the first English translation. Of interest to philosophers, mathematicians, natural scientists, and historians of science. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
