Symmetry and the Monster: The Story of One of the Greatest Quests of Mathematics

The hunt for the 'Monster' of symmetry is one of the great mathematical quests, alongside Fermat's Last Theorem, the Riemann Hypothesis, and Poincar--eacute--; Conjecture. The Monster is a giant snowflake in 196,884 dimensions - the largest exception to our neat classifications of symmetry, with a beautiful structure which may turn out to unlock our understanding of symmetry, string theory, and the very fabric of our universe. The story of its discovery became the biggest joint mathematical project of all time - involving determination, luck, and some very extraordinary characters. - ;Mathemat.
Abstract: The hunt for the 'Monster' of symmetry is one of the great mathematical quests. The Monster is a giant snowflake in 196,884 dimensions, with a beautiful structure which may turn out to unlock our understanding of symmetry and the very fabric of our universe. The story of its discovery became the biggest joint mathematical project of all time.