MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Ladies' Night (2017)
Robert Dawson
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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A card sharp known as "Lady Jane" attempts to swindle a statistician visiting Las Vegas for a conference. The plot twists and turns as it mentions things like the Monty Hall Problem, Game Theory, and Bayes' Theorem.

It appeared in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (Volume 7, Issue 1, January 2017). Thanks to Larry Lesser for bringing it to my attention.

Contributed by Alejandro Bustos

This is an entertaining and well-written short story. I particularly loved the amusing plot twists and fun ending that made me laugh. Writing a funny tale that deals with statistics and game theory is not an easy task, but author Robert Dawson accomplished this with this delightful literary piece.

More information about this work can be found at scholarship.claremont.edu.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Ladies' Night
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Damned Souls and Statistics by Robert Dawson
  2. Gambler's Rose by G.W. Hawkes
  3. 21 by Robert Luketic (Director)
  4. Final Exam by Robert Dawson
  5. On the Occasion Of Your Graduation by Robert Dawson
  6. My Heart Belongs to Bertie by Helen DeWitt
  7. Memory Becomes You by Sharon Lax
  8. The Robot's Math Lessons by Yoon Ha Lee
  9. A Desirable Middle by Susan Sechrist
  10. The Mathematics of Friedrich Gauss by D.W. Wilson
Ratings for Ladies' Night:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
3/5 (2 votes)
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Literary Quality:
3.5/5 (2 votes)
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Categories:
Genre
MotifFemale Mathematicians,
TopicProbability/Statistics,
MediumShort Stories, Available Free Online,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)