MathFiction: Sixty Million Trillion Combinations (Isaac Asimov)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Sixty Million Trillion Combinations (1980)

Isaac Asimov
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Tom Trumbull, one of Asimov's regular "Black Widower" mystery characters, wants to convince an eccentric mathematician (working on Goldbach's conjecture) that his secret password is not safe. Combinatorics plays a role. See also these [1, 3] other BW stories.

Contributed by Jose Brox

A Black Widowers short story with some interesting dialogues, but with a quite dumb and out-of-the-blue ending solution that spoiled out the fun for me

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(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 Sixty Million Trillion Combinations

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke
Go, Little Book by Isaac Asimov
Getting the Combination by Isaac Asimov
The Ultimate Crime by Isaac Asimov
Child's Play by Isaac Asimov
1 to 999 by Isaac Asimov
Mirror Image by Isaac Asimov
Ten by Isaac Asimov
Percentage Player by Leslie Charteris
Death and the Compass (La Muerte y La Brujula) by Jorge Luis Borges

Ratings for Sixty Million Trillion Combinations:

Ratings

Have 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:
4/5 (3 votes)

Literary Quality:
3/5 (3 votes)

Categories:

Genre	Mystery,
Motif
Topic
Medium	Short Stories,

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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)