The Equation that Couldn't be Solved by Mario Livio

This book is about symmetry, a concept purported to be as basic as anything in mathematics and perhaps in physics and biology as well. This concept is approached and understood through the mathematical concept of groups. What might be dry and convoluted is made compelling and arresting by the story of the centuries of search for the solution of higher-order polynomial equations finally solved by using symmetry. The discovery of groups is described in the bizarre life and tragic death of Galois. Except for a diversion into musical symmetry and quantum mechanics and string theory, which rarely interest me, the book is delightful and even surprising. Livio has a gift for explanations that don't seem simplistic though I am sure he is having to restrain himself throughout the book not to launch into an aria of equations. To make group theory interesting is no small achievement. A book I might like to own.