We usually associate a sense of elegance with art or fashion design, poetry or dance, but the idea of elegance is surprisingly important in science as well. The use of the term is most apparent in the "elegant proofs" of mathematics--which Bertrand Russell once described as "capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show"--but as Ian Glynn reveals in this fascinating new book, the idea of elegance is essential to scientists working in all fields.

Glynn draws on a wide range of examples that demonstrate the elegance of science, from Pythagoras' theorem and Archimedes'...