1st Edition
The Language of Symmetry
The Language of Symmetry is a re-assessment of the structure and reach of symmetry, by an interdisciplinary group of specialists from the arts, humanities, and sciences at Oxford University.
It explores, amongst other topics:
- order and chaos in the formation of planetary systems
- entropy and symmetry in physics
- group theory, fractals, and self-similarity
- symmetrical structures in western classical music
- how biological systems harness disorder to create order
This book aims to open up the scope of interdisciplinary work in the study of symmetry and is intended for scholars of any background - whether it be science, arts, or philosophy.
Preface by Professor Denis Noble CBE FRS, vii
Contributors, xi
Introduction by Benedict Rattigan, xiii
Editors’ Note by Afiq Hatta, xxix
About the Contributors, xxxv
Chapter 1 ◾ Planetary Systems: From Symmetry to
Chaos 1
Caroline Terquem
Chapter 2 ◾ Entropy and Symmetry in the Universe 13
Dimitra Rigopoulou
Chapter 3 ◾ Darkness, Light, and How Symmetry
Might Relate Them 25
Alan Barr
Chapter 4 ◾ Self-Similar Self-Similarity 37
Joel David Hamkins
Chapter 5 ◾ The Language of Symmetry in Music 51
Robert Quinney
Chapter 6 ◾ The Interdependence of Order and
Disorder: How Complexity Arises in
the Living and the Inanimate Universe 69
Denis Noble
Chapter 7 ◾ A Philosopher’s Perspective on the
Harnessing of Stochasticity 77
Sir Anthony Kenny
Chapter 8 ◾ Postscript: A Dialogue between Denis
Noble and Benedict Rattigan 83
Appendix: A Response to Professor
Noble’s Paper: Ordered Disorder to
Drive Physiology 89
Anant Parekh FRS—Professor of Physiology
with Frederick B. Parekh-Glitsch and Daniel
Balowski
REFERENCES, 93
INDEX, 95
Biography
Benedict Rattigan is a writer, and he is Director of the Schweitzer Institute, a think-tank that promotes an ethic of ‘reverence for life’ through educational programs, community outreach projects, a peer-reviewed journal and university conferences.
Denis Noble CBE FRS held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at Oxford 1984-2004 and was appointed Professor Emeritus and co-Director of Computational Physiology. Professor Noble is one of the pioneers of systems biology and developed the first viable mathematical model of the working heart. He is one of the founders of the new field of Systems Biology and is the author of the first popular science book on the subject, The Music of Life (2006).
Afiq Hatta is a science writer, and the owner of the blog simplesalad.ghost.io. He primarily writes about theoretical physics and its connections with economics and philosophy. He is a recent graduate of Mathematics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and was formerly a quantitative trader at Morgan Stanley.
