| Professor Sam Collin studies and lectures on the mathematics of symmetry. His OCD manifests as an obsessive desire for symmetry in his physical surroundings. He is therefore initially pleasantly surprised by the seemingly mystical pair of books left outside his front door which display symmetries beyond those that seem to be allowed by the laws of physics. But, this is a horror story and so things take a turn for the worse: his home develops disturbing additional symmetries (like a door which cannot be opened since it has hinges on both sides) and an ominous one-eyed creature appears.
That is all I intend to say about the story (to avoid more spoilers), but I'd like to add one remark about the concept of symmetry.
After Professor Collin's online lecture attracts an audience of precisely zero people near the beginning of the story, he consoles himself with the suggestion that symmetry is an old and currently unpopular area of math which only has applications in the visual arts. However, this is not true. Symmetry in modern mathematics is actually an important and nearly ubiquitous topic. (See, for example, here.)
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. |
