MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Gauß, Eisenstein, and the ``third'' proof of the Quadratic Reciprocity Theorem: Ein kleines Schauspiel (1994)
Reinhard C. Laubenbacher / David J. Pengelley
...

Contributed by Vijay Fafat

It is presented as a dialogue/drama between Gauss and Eisenstein, talking about the third proof of Gauss's reciprocity theorem (perhaps the actors are supposed to draw symbols in the air to make the proof even more accessible to the general audience :-) ). The final line is quite nice, where Eisenstein muses, "I wonder if Gauss already had my geometric view of his transformations when he published his third proof in 1808, and if the old fox has merely been humoring me all along in our conversation."

Originally published as Mathematical Intelligencer 16 (1994), 67-72, but now available free online.

More information about this work can be found at www.math.nmsu.edu.
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Mathematical Content:
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Literary Quality:
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Categories:
GenreDidactic,
MotifProving Theorems, Real Mathematicians,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory, Real Mathematics,
MediumPlays, Available Free Online,

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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)