It Must Be Beautiful - Graham Farmelo

Great Equations of Modern Science

First published in early spring 2002, this collection of essays quickly became a science best‑seller in the UK. Shortly afterwards, the book shot up the amazon.com charts overnight after an article about the book appeared in the New York Times.

The collection, edited by Graham, features pieces by leading scientists, historians and journalists about some of the great equations of twentieth‑century science, including:

• Igor Aleksander on Shannon’s equations

• Peter Galison on E = mc²

• Aisling Irwin on the Molina‑Rowland chemical equations

• Robert May on the logistic map

• Arthur I. Miller on Schrödinger’s equation

• Oliver Morton on the Drake equation

• Roger Penrose on Einstein’s equations of gravity

• John Maynard Smith on equations of evolutionary biology

• Steven Weinberg on how great equations survive

• Christine Sutton on the Yang‑Mills equation

• Frank Wilczek on the Dirac equation

Graham contributed a foreword, and an essay on the Planck‑Einstein equation of quantum theory.

WHAT REVIEWERS SAID

“Looks like math, reads like poetry.”
Charles SeifeWired

“'Graham Farmelo has done a magnificent job both of choosing a representative sample of great equations from across the spectrum of science and of assembling a superstar cast of authors to tell us about them”
John CastiNew Scientist

“Graham Farmelo’s fine book spans the entire history of the universe, life and everything”
Tim RadfordGuardian

“It Must be Beautiful’ is superb. The authors are not only experts in their fields, they write well…. The outcome is a book that is both beautiful and enlightening.”
Charles SeifeWired

“Many popular science books shun equations, but here is one that relishes them, that celebrates their power and beauty, and that still manages to explain rather than baffle.”
Simon SingSunday Telegraph

“For everyone interested in what science has to say about the universe, it is utterly fascinating.”
Peter D. SmithThe Guardian

“The beauty of equations passes most of the human race by. But now we have a brilliantly readable book that absolutely revels in that beauty”
Ian StewartNature

“Superb collection of essays”
Roger HighfieldDaily Telegraph

“[The authors], as well as editor Graham Farmelo, deserve our thanks for a compilation so well organized and presented.”
Brian PippardTimes Higher