Groups and Symmetry : A Guide to Discovering Mathematics

In most mathematics textbooks, the most exciting part of mathematics - the process of invention and discovery - is completely hidden from the reader.

The aim of ""Groups and Symmetry"" is to change all that.

By means of a series of carefully selected tasks, this book leads readers to discover some real mathematics.

There are no formulas to memorize; no procedures to follow.

The book is a guide: Its job is to start you in the right direction and to bring you back if you stray too far.

Discovery is left to you. Suitable for a one-semester course at the beginning undergraduate level, there are no prerequisites for understanding the text.

Any college student interested in discovering the beauty of mathematics will enjoy a course taught from this book.

The book has also been used successfully with non science students who want to fulfill a science requirement.

Also available from the AMS by David W. Farmer is ""Knots and Surfaces: A Guide to Discovering Mathematics"".