a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)
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Meg Brightwood grew up as a mathematical prodigy with an overbearing mathematician father and an absent mother. She later quit her academic job due to a combination of her crippling anxiety and the sexism of her co-workers. However, she continues to work on a famous conjecture known as "the Impossible Theorem" and finally proves it on the day of her beloved grandmother's funeral. Her attempt to present her proof at a conference attracts some attention from the mathematical community, but a panic attack keeps her from being able to finish the talk. Her father offers to help her publish the proof, but he really intends to steal the credit from her.
That mathematical subplot does make-up about half of this novel, and hence it certainly is an example of mathematical fiction. The other half is a romance between Meg and Isaac, the young man who used to work as a handyman for her grandmother. Despite an obvious attraction for each other, they did nothing more than touch hands once in their youth. But, meeting again after Meg's failed talk on The Impossible Theorem, they begin a torrid romance...despite the fact that Isaac is wanted for murder! I had a tough time deciding whether to label this book as being in the "Romance" genre. It certainly bears some similarity to the books in the standard "bodice ripping" novels, including but not limited to the extremely predictable outcome to all of the plot lines (IMHO). In other ways it does not conform to my stereotypes of "romance fiction". I have decided to give it that tag, but would appreciate it if any true fans of that genre could let me know whether they believe I have miscategorized it. Anyway, let me say a bit more about the math:
Spoiler Alert: Stop Reading Now to Avoid Spoilers! Spoiler Alert: Stop Reading Now to Avoid Spoilers! Spoiler Alert: Stop Reading Now to Avoid Spoilers! After her failed attempt to present her proof in public, Meg hides her written copy of the proof in a safe place. (Literally, in the safe at her grandmother's old house!) But, when she goes to retrieve it later, it is gone. Obviously, her father is the only one who had both the means and motivation to steal it, and so she knows it was him who took it. Meg's father announces publicly that he will be presenting his proof of "the Impossible Theorem" at an upcoming lecture. He seems to be suggesting that his daughter Meg played a tiny part in proving it, but that it is primarily his. Since her reputation suffered when she quit her academic job, it is easy for others to believe that he is just sharing some credit with his "mental ill" daughter as a kindness to her. Meanwhile, Meg is racing to reproduce her proof before he does. A couple of thoughts about that:
Again, however, that does not seem to me as if it would convince anyone that he had stolen the invalid proof from her. I wish I believed it, because it is supposed to be the happy ending of the mathematical subplot. We are supposed to feel that justice was done as her father's misdeed has been revealed, but I think that could have been better achieved in some other way. Anyway, as mathematical fiction romance novels go, this one is really quite good. I recommend it to anyone who likes that combination of genres. |
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.) |
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Exciting News: The 1,600th entry was recently added to this database of mathematical fiction! Also, for those of you interested in non-fictional math books
let me (shamelessly) plug the recent release of the second edition of my soliton theory textbook.
(Maintained by Alex Kasman,
College of Charleston)