MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

Home All New Browse Search About

...
Le Cas de Sophie K. (2005)
Jean-Frangois Peyret (playwright and director)
...

This play about Sofya Kovalevskaya emphasizes her nihilistic leanings (as expressed in Kovalevskaya's own fiction). The production featured unusual modern staging, such as having three actresses portraying Kovalevskaya along with projection of both live and recorded video.

I am grateful to Vijay Fafat for suggesting I add this work to my database. Embarrassingly, I really should have known about it already since Alain Juhel's review of the play appears in the same issue of the Mathematical Intelligencer where my own collection Reality Conditions: short mathematical fiction was reviewed. (Note that Juhel's review is essentially the source of all of the information here!)

Another connection to other works of mathematical fiction is that mathematician Michèle Audin, whose fictional works are listed on this database, advised the cast of Peyret's play.

The play was originally produced for Festival d'Avignon 2005 and also ran at Paris's Theatre National de Chaillot in 2006.

More information about this work can be found at festival-avignon.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 Le Cas de Sophie K.
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Uniform Convergence: A One-Woman Play by Corrine Yap
  2. Beyond the Limit: The Dream of Sofya Kovalevskaya by Joan Spicci
  3. Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight by Lauren Gunderson
  4. Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
  5. A Disappearing Number by Simon McBurney
  6. Hypatia or The Divine Algebra by Mac Wellman
  7. The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem by Rinne Groff
  8. Calculus (Newton's Whores) by Carl Djerassi
  9. Newton's Hooke by David Pinner
  10. Partition by Ira Hauptman
Ratings for Le Cas de Sophie K.:
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.
(unrated)

PLEASE HELP US OUT BY ENTERING YOUR OWN RATINGS FOR THIS WORK.

Categories:
GenreHistorical Fiction,
MotifReal Mathematicians, Female Mathematicians, Sonya Kovalevskaya,
TopicReal Mathematics,
MediumPlays,

Home All New Browse Search About

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)