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Martin Gardner
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The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings: Third Revised Edition Paperback – July 26, 2005

by Martin Gardner (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 39 ratings
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"What makes Gardner so appealing is his ease in exploring deep ideas . . . and making them accessible to the interested but nontechnical reader. This is a special talent and no one has ever displayed it quite as well as he does." — Los Angeles Times
"Absorbing; enlightening; lucid; witty; inventive. An exemplar of science writing at its very best." — American Mathematical Monthly
A substantial revision of Martin Gardner's earlier well-known work on mirror symmetry and asymmetry, The New Ambidextrous Universe takes readers on an extraordinary journey. With Gardner’s guidance, they explore the two fundamental scientific discoveries of the past century: the asymmetric DNA helix and the overthrow of parity (left-right symmetry) in particle physics. Along the way, students will find absorbing and thought-provoking treatments of some of the deepest mysteries in modern physics.
Author of more than 60 books, Martin Gardner has influenced and inspired generations of scientists, scholars, and other readers, especially those with an interest in mathematics. He originated Scientific American's popular Mathematical Games column, which he wrote from 1956 until his retirement from the magazine three decades later. This republication of his revised edition of an earlier work features a new appendix of notes and corrections.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    416 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Dover Publications
  4. Publication date
    July 26, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    5.51 x 0.85 x 8.62 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0486442446
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0486442440
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin Gardner was a renowned author who published over 70 books on subjects from science and math to poetry and religion. He also had a lifelong passion for magic tricks and puzzles. Well known for his mathematical games column in Scientific American and his "Trick of the Month" in Physics Teacher magazine, Gardner attracted a loyal following with his intelligence, wit, and imagination.

Martin Gardner: A Remembrance
The worldwide mathematical community was saddened by the death of Martin Gardner on May 22, 2010. Martin was 95 years old when he died, and had written 70 or 80 books during his long lifetime as an author. Martin's first Dover books were published in 1956 and 1957: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery, one of the first popular books on the intellectual excitement of mathematics to reach a wide audience, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, certainly one of the first popular books to cast a devastatingly skeptical eye on the claims of pseudoscience and the many guises in which the modern world has given rise to it. Both of these pioneering books are still in print with Dover today along with more than a dozen other titles of Martin's books. They run the gamut from his elementary Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, which has been enjoyed by generations of younger readers since the 1980s, to the more demanding The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings, which Dover published in its final revised form in 2005.

To those of us who have been associated with Dover for a long time, however, Martin was more than an author, albeit a remarkably popular and successful one. As a member of the small group of long-time advisors and consultants, which included NYU's Morris Kline in mathematics, Harvard's I. Bernard Cohen in the history of science, and MIT's J. P. Den Hartog in engineering, Martin's advice and editorial suggestions in the formative 1950s helped to define the Dover publishing program and give it the point of view which — despite many changes, new directions, and the consequences of evolution — continues to be operative today.

In the Author's Own Words:
"Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs."

"A surprising proportion of mathematicians are accomplished musicians. Is it because music and mathematics share patterns that are beautiful?" — Martin Gardner

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; Third Edition, Revised (July 26, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486442446
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486442440
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.13 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 0.85 x 8.62 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 39 ratings

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Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner

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For 25 of his 95 years, Martin Gardner wrote 'Mathematical Games and Recreations', a monthly column for Scientific American magazine. These columns have inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to delve more deeply into the large world of mathematics. He has also made significant contributions to magic, philosophy, debunking pseudoscience, and children's literature. He has produced more than 60 books, including many best sellers, most of which are still in print. His Annotated Alice has sold more than a million copies. He continues to write a regular column for the Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
39 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Clyde Willson
5.0 out of 5 stars What kind of universe do we live in?
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2020
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Written several decades ago, this summary of symmetry and the concept of super-strings continues to be a fascinating and well-written read for those of us who are interested in understanding the universe in which we live.
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C. Cain
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016
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Pure genius. I had a much earlier edition of this book - possibly the first - and enjoyed it immensely. When I saw it was updated, I ordered it immediately, and love the additional chapters. Martin Gardner has an exceptional ability to convey mathematical concepts in a straightforward, intuitive way, and he's in top form here.
2 people found this helpful
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Worldreels
4.0 out of 5 stars IS SUPERSTRING THEORY A RECREATIONAL MATHEMATICAL THEOLOGY?
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2000
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Every decade Gardner updates this book. The five new chapters in the 1990 edition, including material on twistors and superstrings, are well worth the price. What Gardner does best is frame the new theories within a historical perspective. For example, he says it is impossible not to compare string theory with Lord Kelvin's (W. Thompson) 1958 theory of vortex strings. Vortex string theory was fashionable for at least fifty years. Gardner shows the vortex string theory and the superstring theory to be kissing cousins: Lord Kelvin used perfect fluid to refer to the superstring quantum vacuum -- both referring to the same sub-space area. String theory speaks of vibrating frequencies of energy while vortex rings were also vibrating frequencies that gave the atoms different properties. Instead of quantum foam with jittering virtual particles, vortex theory had vortex sponges with billions of vortex motions whirling in all directions.
Gardner's account of Roger Penrose's twistor theory is short and excellent. Physicists have gotten tangled up trying to speak of deeper down events which are hidden from view due to their sub-Planck length size (10 to the minus 33rd power of a centimeter). Here it is pointed out that "on a sufficiently small scale the concept of a space-time point evaporates in the complex space of twistor theory." Twistor theory, like superstring theory, was merely trying to formulate how the submicroscopic particles come into being. Both theories consist of math and lack any experimental verification. To repeat, the author discusses these obtuse theories in a way that frames their overall direction of thought. Gardner appears to agree with Howard George who calls superstring theory a "recreational mathematical theology." The bottom line -- both twistor and string theory are philosophy -- not physics.
7 people found this helpful
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Toonfan
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent clear explanations of difficult concepts
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2008
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I read a previous edition of this book and enjoyed it very much. This revised edition also did not disappoint. The book is written a lot like his old Scientific American columns -- there are nice illustrations and exercises (with answers) throughout. The explanations are very clear on topics ranging from symmetry (or the lack thereof), biology, higher dimensions, parity, time reversal, and ending with superstrings. A great read.
7 people found this helpful
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Neal W
5.0 out of 5 stars You have always wanted an answer to this question
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2014
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You've always wondered why your image, in a mirror, is asymmetrically reversed horizontally but not vertically, right? Martin Gardner will explain how that works in chapter 1. May provide hints for new pick-up lines to start interesting conversations also.
3 people found this helpful
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Gabriel Arthur Petrie
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2014
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Even if you aren't taking a course in physics, this is a great book to read. It covers so many topics, your head will be spinning.
4 people found this helpful
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JustaCustomer
5.0 out of 5 stars a great read. delivered on time and as
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2015
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i own a copy and bought one for dad. a great read. delivered on time and as expected
One person found this helpful
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Sarah
4.0 out of 5 stars Review from a non-scientific perspective
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2002
I'm not going to say that I understand all of this. Most of it is way over my head, but after reading it, I can say that I understand more now than I did before. I'm planning on attacking it again in a couple years. Overall, however, Gardner does a good job of bring complicated scientific theory down to a plain English level by using diagrams and analogies.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Edoardo Angeloni
5.0 out of 5 stars A gread book of a strong expert.
Reviewed in Italy on May 10, 2021
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The author talks with experience about problems between physics and mathematics. So in this sense there is great progresses about the mirror symmetry last years. But when this book is born, many questions were already present. For example, the simmetry or not of a particle, in chemistry or biology other than physics. The geometric and algebraic models imply certain results by a concrete view. All that could look like old, but really it is very modern. The same style of Gardner , surely very formal, is much useful for an actual reading.
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DC
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on February 7, 2017
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Great book.
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國吉美佐子
5.0 out of 5 stars 良い本が安いのは嬉しいです。
Reviewed in Japan on March 1, 2021
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帯は少し汚れていましたが、中はサラ状態でした。高い本だし、店舗で探しても無さそうなので、とても満足です。
3 people found this helpful
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Geoff Buck
4.0 out of 5 stars Is the Universe symmetrical - discuss!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2000
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Although this book has been revised it is still not quite up-to-date with the most modern developments. However it is a fascinating study from the macro-level Universe to the micro-level sub-atomic particles, all aided by generally good diagrams and examples, - plus a number of magic tricks to amuse your friends and colleagues. It also explains why a mirror "reverses" left to right, but not top to bottom, so you'll never lose any more sleepless nights to that paradox. A little previous knowledge of simple chemistry and physics will help the reader.
5 people found this helpful
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Alok
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in India on October 6, 2019
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Loved it
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