From Error Correcting Codes Through Sphere Packing to Simple Groups (1983) Front Cover Book Details Author Thomas M. Thompson Genre Error Control Coding; Group Theory; Sphere Packing Subject Error-correcting codes (Information theory); Information Theory; Sphere Packing Publication Date 1983 Format Hardcover (190 x 130 mm) Publisher The Mathematical Association of America Language English Plot "Thompson provides an excellent example of the constant interaction between applied and theoretical mathematics. Thompson's work is first-rate historical research and good clear writing. As a mathematics teacher, he has gone to great pains to make the material understandable to anyone with even a casual acquaintance with vector spaces and groups." --Annals of the History of Computing This book traces a remarkable path of mathematical connections through seemingly disparate topics. Frustrations with a 1940’s electro-mechanical computer at a premier research laboratory begin this story. Subsequent mathematical methods of encoding messages to ensure correctness when transmitted over noisy channels lead to discoveries of extremely efficient lattice packings of equal-radius balls, especially in 24-dimensional space. In turn, this highly symmetric lattice, with each point neighboring exactly 196,560 other points, suggested the possible presence of new simple groups as groups of symmetries. Indeed, new groups were found and are now part of the “Enormous Theorem”-the classification of all simple groups whose entire proof runs some 10,000+ pages. And these connections, along with the fascinating history and the proof of the simplicity of one of those “sporatic” simple groups, are presented at an undergraduate mathematical level. Personal Details Collection Status In Collection Store Amazon.com Location A05 Purchase Price $29.95 Current Value $31.00 Purchase Date 11/5/03 Condition Near Mint Index 118 Owner Paulo Mendes Read It No Links Amazon US Amazon UK Powell's Collection # 00083B Order # 102-4484454-4310541 Main Subject Error Control Coding Secondary Subject Sphere Packing Product Details LoC Classification (DLC) 2003109802ibc ISBN 0883850370 Edition 01 Printing 4 Series Carus mathematical monographs Country USA Volume 21 Cover Price $29.95 Nr of Pages 228 First Edition Yes Rare No Original Details Original Publication Year 1983