MathFiction: Nachman at the Races (Leonard Michaels)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Nachman at the Races (1999)

Leonard Michaels
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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In Michaels' third Nachman story, we learn that the UCLA mathematician enjoys attending horse races -- apparently his only emotional outlet besides his mathematics research. There is discussion of the question of how much the outcome of the race depends on unpredictable chance events. Nachman believes that he has a statistics based system -- although it is not well formulated and is achieved largely subconsciously -- for selecting the winner which would work most of the time. Usually, he does not make his bets based on the system since he is not interested in money, but offers its advice to his troubled friend, a minister who is attending the race with his young daughter while his wife is in the hospital.

This story was published in Partisan Review 3/ 1999 VOL. LXVI NO. 3 and can be found in the collection Collected Stories of Leonard Michaels which appeared shortly after the author's death.

In addition, Arion Press published The Nachman Stories in a separate and very expensive book.

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 Nachman at the Races

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

The Penultimate Conjecture by Leonard Michaels
Nachman by Leonard Michaels
Cryptology by Leonard Michaels
Nachman Burning by Leonard Michaels
Of Mystery There Is No End by Leonard Michaels
Nachman from Los Angeles by Leonard Michaels
Towel Season by Ron Carlson
San by Lan Samantha Chang
The Mathematician by George Weinberg
My Heart Belongs to Bertie by Helen DeWitt

Ratings for Nachman at the Races:

Ratings

Have 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:
4/5 (1 votes)

Categories:

Genre
Motif	Anti-social Mathematicians, Future Prediction through Math, Religion,
Topic	Probability/Statistics,
Medium	Short 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)