--- product_id: 8602775 title: "The Symmetries of Things" price: "£89.93" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/8602775-the-symmetries-of-things store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # The Symmetries of Things **Price:** £89.93 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Symmetries of Things - **How much does it cost?** £89.93 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/8602775-the-symmetries-of-things) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Start with a single shape. Repeat it in some way―translation, reflection over a line, rotation around a point―and you have created symmetry. Symmetry is a fundamental phenomenon in art, science, and nature that has been captured, described, and analyzed using mathematical concepts for a long time. Inspired by the geometric intuition of Bill Thurston and empowered by his own analytical skills, John Conway, with his coauthors, has developed a comprehensive mathematical theory of symmetry that allows the description and classification of symmetries in numerous geometric environments. This richly and compellingly illustrated book addresses the phenomenological, analytical, and mathematical aspects of symmetry on three levels that build on one another and will speak to interested lay people, artists, working mathematicians, and researchers. Review: All symmetries, most beautiful - This is not an ordinary book. It is really beautiful, really beautiful! And on the other hand it isn't afraid of describing the actual mathematical concepts. This is not an ordinary book, it really shows you have things can be visualized, from depicting how to "zip" the almost ghost-like blobs in Fig.8.2-5, that the order of operators in a group matters with a simple sketch in chapter 9, up to so many different views on the problems, that it would do no justice to the book to just have an enumeration here. This is the type of book I wish my parents had in their library when I was 16. Yes, it has many concepts that you will not be taught at high school, however, the visualisations and the patient tour from the authors, makes this a perfect book for an autodidact. You can do the rotations and mirroring of the beautiful Escher-like patterns in your head and are constantly taken one step further in the book to understand the underlying regularities. I feel this book is much more comparable to learning how to tie complex knots, then to learn, say, linear algebra. The only thing that would have benefited the reader, would be the connection to other scientific disciplines. It would be great to see so now and then what group theory brought to the table in chemistry, physics, cryptography, or machine learning. Especially, because the authors are not afraid to present complex mathematical objects, it might be trivial for them to do this and tell stories that are really hard to tell without such a detailed exposition as in this book. For me this book is like "Gödel, Escher, Bach" to me. Review: Exquisite and fascinating and informative - Fascinating and thrilling take on finite groups, presented by means of planar and higher-dimensional symmetries. Presentation will be clear and interesting to laypersons and to mathematicians. Three features distinguish this book from other discussions of symmetry. First is the inherent interest in the subject. Symmetry is a topic of much greater importance and pervasiveness than most people realize. This book helps us see it in many places we might not think to look, and its classification and analysis is extremely informative and thought-provoking. Second is the beauty of the examples, which deal with elegant and attractive patterns. Third is the extraordinarily high production values of the book. The notation for symmetry utilizes different colors in a way that is clear and helpful. The pictures are carefully done. Frankly, this is one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. My one complaint is that the corner of the cover of the copy I got from desertcart was a bit bent. It seems like too much trouble to ship it back and get a whole new copy for this, since the text is fine. This is quite unusual for desertcart, however. In any case, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in mathematics or even in art, from curious high school students to professional mathematicians. ## Features - New - Mint Condition - Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon - Guaranteed packaging - No quibbles returns ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,016,147 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #26 in Non-Euclidean Geometries (Books) #86 in Group Theory (Books) #130 in Topology (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 51 Reviews | ## Images ![The Symmetries of Things - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61HKNFTUYuL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ All symmetries, most beautiful *by A***M on June 1, 2013* This is not an ordinary book. It is really beautiful, really beautiful! And on the other hand it isn't afraid of describing the actual mathematical concepts. This is not an ordinary book, it really shows you have things can be visualized, from depicting how to "zip" the almost ghost-like blobs in Fig.8.2-5, that the order of operators in a group matters with a simple sketch in chapter 9, up to so many different views on the problems, that it would do no justice to the book to just have an enumeration here. This is the type of book I wish my parents had in their library when I was 16. Yes, it has many concepts that you will not be taught at high school, however, the visualisations and the patient tour from the authors, makes this a perfect book for an autodidact. You can do the rotations and mirroring of the beautiful Escher-like patterns in your head and are constantly taken one step further in the book to understand the underlying regularities. I feel this book is much more comparable to learning how to tie complex knots, then to learn, say, linear algebra. The only thing that would have benefited the reader, would be the connection to other scientific disciplines. It would be great to see so now and then what group theory brought to the table in chemistry, physics, cryptography, or machine learning. Especially, because the authors are not afraid to present complex mathematical objects, it might be trivial for them to do this and tell stories that are really hard to tell without such a detailed exposition as in this book. For me this book is like "Gödel, Escher, Bach" to me. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Exquisite and fascinating and informative *by R***N on September 23, 2009* Fascinating and thrilling take on finite groups, presented by means of planar and higher-dimensional symmetries. Presentation will be clear and interesting to laypersons and to mathematicians. Three features distinguish this book from other discussions of symmetry. First is the inherent interest in the subject. Symmetry is a topic of much greater importance and pervasiveness than most people realize. This book helps us see it in many places we might not think to look, and its classification and analysis is extremely informative and thought-provoking. Second is the beauty of the examples, which deal with elegant and attractive patterns. Third is the extraordinarily high production values of the book. The notation for symmetry utilizes different colors in a way that is clear and helpful. The pictures are carefully done. Frankly, this is one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. My one complaint is that the corner of the cover of the copy I got from Amazon was a bit bent. It seems like too much trouble to ship it back and get a whole new copy for this, since the text is fine. This is quite unusual for Amazon, however. In any case, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in mathematics or even in art, from curious high school students to professional mathematicians. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Favorite Math Book *by J***N on November 25, 2019* I love the progressive difficulty of the book. The first view chapters are accessible to anyone and a great tool for getting and understanding of symmetries in the world around you. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/8602775-the-symmetries-of-things](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/8602775-the-symmetries-of-things) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-14*