Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved

  • How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry
  • By: Mario Livio
  • Narrated by: Tom Parks
  • Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)
Get this deal Try for £0.00
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved cover art

The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved

By: Mario Livio
Narrated by: Tom Parks
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £22.00

Buy Now for £22.00

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Infinite Powers cover art
A Most Elegant Equation cover art
Is God a Mathematician? cover art
Bernoulli's Fallacy cover art
Complexity cover art
Sync cover art
Journey to the Edge of Reason cover art
The Power of Time Perception cover art
Change Your Habits, Defeat Procrastination, Reach Your Goals, Meet Your Objectives, Modify Your Behavior cover art
Critical Thinking: Arguments, Job Interview Skills, and Scientific Approaches cover art
Sticky cover art
A Mind for Numbers cover art
The Signal and the Noise cover art
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry cover art
The Origins of Everything in 100 Pages (More or Less) cover art
Quantum Physics for Beginners, Into the Light cover art

Summary

What do Bach's compositions, Rubik's Cube, the way we choose our mates, and the physics of subatomic particles have in common? All are governed by the laws of symmetry, which elegantly unify scientific and artistic principles. Yet the mathematical language of symmetry - known as group theory - did not emerge from the study of symmetry at all, but from an equation that couldn't be solved.

For thousands of years mathematicians solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations, until they encountered the quintic equation, which resisted solution for three centuries. Working independently, two great prodigies ultimately proved that the quintic cannot be solved by a simple formula. These geniuses, a Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel and a romantic Frenchman named Évariste Galois, both died tragically young. Their incredible labor, however, produced the origins of group theory.

The first extensive, popular account of the mathematics of symmetry and order, The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved is told not through abstract formulas but in a beautifully written and dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest and most intriguing mathematicians in history.
©2005 Mario Livio. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
United States Mathematics Mathematical Genius
Show More Show Less

What listeners say about The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for John Sheridan

Fascinating and wide ranging

Mathematical and scientific ideas put into historical and human context. Clear explanations that are accessible without prior knowledge.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!