Symmetry and the Monster The Story of One of the Greatest Quests of Mathematics

This is the story of a mathematical quest which began with a pistol duel two hundred years ago in revolutionary France, and may yet end with a deep new insight into the very fabric of our Universe. It is a story that introduces the 'Monster' - not monstrous at all, but a vast structure of exquisite beauty and complexity - and whose discovery involved determined characters, breakthroughs in mathematics, and curious number 'coincidences'. And even today, it seems, the tale of the Monster is not yet over: for in its extraordinary structure we are just beginning to glimpse tantalizing hints of connections with the deep physical nature of the Universe. Book jacket.

Mark Ronan is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Visiting Professor of Mathematics at University College London.