MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Trains Passing (2024)
Martin Ziegler
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A thoroughly unpleasant math teacher is riding a high-speed train traveling at precisely 400 mph in one direction on a perfectly straight track while another train travels in the opposite direction at precisely 440 mph. She does this so that she can really live a "story problem" like those she gives in her class. She intends to start her stopwatch when the trains are 1260 miles apart, and then expects the trains to pass each other precisely one and a half hours later. While passing the time, she behaves condescendingly to the physically deformed woman sitting next to her, unaware that her neighbor has made a slight modification to the word problem which they are experiencing together.

This is one of many works of "mathematical horror" in the collection "Arithmophobia" (self-published by editor Robert Lewis). Some of the other works in that collection will have their own entries here, but others are excluded either because they did not qualify as "mathematical fiction" according to the standards of this website. Check out the book if you want to see them all.

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 Trains Passing
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Lost and Found by Joe Stout
  2. Buried Alive at the End of the World by Blair Bourrassa
  3. Problems for Self-Study by Charles Yu
  4. A Good Problem to Have by B.J. Novak
  5. Special Meal by Josh Malerman
  6. Real Numbers by Liz Kaufman
  7. Manifold Thoughts by Patrick Freivald
  8. Immortal Bird by H. Russell Wakefield
  9. The Integral: A Horror Story by Colin Adams
  10. Solve for X by Wil Forbis
Ratings for Trains Passing:
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:
2/5 (1 votes)
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Literary Quality:
4/5 (1 votes)
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Categories:
GenreHorror,
MotifAnti-social Mathematicians, Math Education,
Topic
MediumShort Stories,

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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)