MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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San (2000)
Lan Samantha Chang
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A short story in the collection "Hunger" about a girl who becomes interested in mathematics (especially probability) when her gambler father deserts his family. She does not succeed as a college student and learns in the end that in both math and life, it is the mysteries (and not their solutions) which are of real interest.

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 San
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Probabilities by Michael Stein
  2. The Unknown Quantity by Hermann Broch
  3. Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley
  4. Herr Doctor's Wondrous Smile by Vladimir Tasic
  5. The Penultimate Conjecture by Leonard Michaels
  6. Nachman by Leonard Michaels
  7. Nachman at the Races by Leonard Michaels
  8. Zilkowski's Theorem by Karl Iagnemma
  9. On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction by Karl Iagnemma
  10. Mathematically Bent by Colin Adams
Ratings for San:
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 (1 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
5/5 (1 votes)
.

Categories:
Genre
MotifAcademia,
TopicProbability/Statistics,
MediumShort Stories,

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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)