From Summetria to Symmetry: The Making of a Revolutionary Scientific Concept

From the reviews: "Hon and Goldstein's book is, primarily, a historical study of the term 'symmetry' and the concepts associated with it up to the early 1800s. ... a contribution to fruitful discussion between historians and philosophers of science. ... For philosophers of science, such historical work is invaluable."--- (Katherine Brading, Metascience, Vol. 19, March, 2010)

• Tradition: Ancient Perspectives and Their SurvivalintheEarlyModernEra.- The Mathematical Path.- The Aesthetic Path.- New Aesthetic Sensibilities in Italian and French Architecture.- The Ancient Concept of Symmetry in Scientific Contexts in Early Modern Times and Its Association with Harmony.- The Path to Revolution: Symmetry as a Modern Scientific Concept.- The Treatment of Symmetry in Natural History (1738–1815).- Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804): “Revolutions” That Did Not Happen.- Legendre’s Revolutionary Definition of Symmetry as a Scientific Concept (1794).- New Applications of Symmetry in Mathematics and Physics: 1788–1815.