| A bittersweet and beautiful work of literature in which an artist sitting beside the corpse of her recently deceased mathematician husband recalls snippets of their lives: how they met, conceiving and raising their child, extramarital affairs, etc. In many of the vignettes the husband talks about or lectures about mathematics. Many of the usual popular mathematical topics show up (Pascal's wager, amicable numbers, Zeno's paradox, the tale of Hypatia, Erdos numbers, Schrodinger's cat, etc.) and in just a few of the instances the description is a bit off (I don't think a mathematician would say that "most" functions are invertible or that Zeno's paradox remains an enigma). But, the truth is, most of the mathematical references are spot on, not only accurate and well stated, but used quite artistically in a way that resonates with the story and its deeper themes. The book leaves one feeling somewhat more in touch with "the meaning of life", whatever that may be, and although it does it through the art of fiction, it uses mathematics in particular to achieve this, and in that sense is an exemplary work of mathematical fiction. (Besides, perhaps the mathematical "mistakes" I mention are Nina's, as it is her memories we witness, and she did not seem to really understand what her husband was saying anyway.)
BTW The acknowledgements at the end of the novel provide the sources for the mathematical (and other non-fictional) information that appears in the book. | Contributed by
Anonymous
WOW an amzing peice of literature.
i would reccomend it to anyone!
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