MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Hypatia: New Foes with an Old Face (1852)
Charles Kingsley
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A fictionalized account of the life and murder of the ancient Greek mathematician Hypatia. This book, written in 1852 by Reverend Kingsley, focuses more on the religious implications (especially the role of the Christian Church in her murder) than on her mathematics. I have not read the book and so do not have any idea of how much mathematics is discussed. If you have read this book, please write to me with comments. (BTW: A good discussion of what we do/don't know about Hypatia's mathematics was published in the March 1994 issue of the American Mathematical Monthly: "Hypatia and Her Mathematics" by Michael A.B. Deakin.)

Contributed by Jeri Studebaker

I can't put this book down. I've never been able to "get into" books written in the 19th century (or even the first half of the 20th), but this book is different. Despite their slightly different (19th-century) mode of speaking, Kingsley's characters really come alive. You really care about them. You feel you're there in ancient Egypt with them. The narrative moves right along, too, without missing a beat--very fast-paced. For months now I've had about 6 books going at a time (reading them, that is), but I've put them all down for this one. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through this book, but accidentally bumped into this site and wanted to comment (I may never get back here again; I'm not a mathematician, but am extremely interested in Hypatia and paganism).

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 Hypatia: New Foes with an Old Face
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Flow Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria by Ki Longfellow
  2. Hypatia or The Divine Algebra by Mac Wellman
  3. Agora by Alejandro Amenábar (writer and director) / Mateo Gil (writer)
  4. Hypatia's Math: A Play by Daniel S. Helman
  5. Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace by Jennifer Chiaverini
  6. A Universe of Sufficient Size by Miriam Sved
  7. War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy
  8. The Mathematician's Shiva by Stuart Rojstaczer
  9. The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
  10. Whom the gods love: The story of Evariste Galois by Leopold Infeld
Ratings for Hypatia: New Foes with an Old Face:
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 (3 votes)
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Literary Quality:
3.67/5 (3 votes)
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Categories:
GenreHistorical Fiction,
MotifReal Mathematicians, Female Mathematicians,
Topic
MediumNovels,

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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)