This book is already praised as an exceptionally accessible, entertaining, and informed account of one of the great mysteries of mathematics. Ian Stewart, author of Does God Play Dice?, says: A gripping tale.Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the apparently remote concerns of pure mathematics can lead to deep and practical insights into the natural world. Popular Science is a growth area, and this is one of the finest books of the year. High profile serialisation, reviews on the literary pages as well as in specialist magazines. Mathematical symmetry is thought to be much too difficult for most laypeople to understand, but this engaging book approaches it in an elegantly entertaining way. The title's formula is the quintic equation (involving x raised to the fifth power), the analysis of which gave rise to group theory, the mathematical apparatus scientists use to explore symmetry. A leading astrophysicist, Livio, keeps the science flowing with digressions into human interest.