Mark Ronan: Symmetry and the Monster
This book tells the story of the symmetry groups from the beginnings up to the suspectedly finished classification of finite simple groups and stops at the surprising (to say the least) and unexplained connections between group theory, number theory and physics. One of the finest pieces of living math.
BTW, in my opinion, the existence of Monster and Moonshine settles the Math as Discovery vs. Creation debate.
I read this book twice. First, some 3 years ago. I think I did that read somewhat superficially, concentrating more on the persons involved and their stories, but not on the mathematical side. For the second time, I read it more slowly constantly checking up the mathematical notions/theorems appearing in the story. This needs some extra work as an annotated bibliography is missing. Apart from that this is an excellent popular math book. The author is an insider, and he could find the proper balance between the amount of math and story (clearly not enough math for a mathematician but the difficult notions are carefully simplified for the ones outside group theory/math).
egri-nagy
