Böcker av John H. Conway

"...the great feature of the book is that anyone can read it without excessive head scratching...You'll find plenty here to keep you occupied, amused, and informed. -IAN STEWART, NEW SCIENTIST"...a delightful look at numbers and their roles in everything from language to flowers to the imagination."

Symmetry is a fundamental phenomenon in art, science, and nature that has been captured, described, and analyzed using mathematical concepts for a long time. This title develops a mathematical theory of symmetry that allows the description and classification of symmetries in numerous geometric environments.

Originally written to define the relation between the theories of transfinite numbers and mathematical games, the resulting work is a mathematically sophisticated but eminently enjoyable guide to game theory. By defining numbers as the strengths of positions in certain games, the author arrives at a new class that includes both real numbers and ordinal numbers: surreal numbers. The second edition presents developments in mathematical game theory, focusing on surreal numbers and the additive theory of partizan games.

An investigation of the geometry of quaternion and octonion algebras, this text is intended for mathematicians who are interested in the symmetries of low-dimensional space. Topics covered include Moufang loops, integral octonions and the octonion projective plane.