MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Infinities (2010)
John Banville
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As mathematician Adam Godley lies seemingly unconscious and dying in bed, his family and professional rival wander through his home.

The title is a reference to the computational anomalies in quantum field theory which had to be resolved through renormalization. Godley worked in this area, as well as on the many-worlds interpretation of wave-function collapse.

Interestingly, the novel adopts the style of the ancient dramas, featuring the god Hermes as a narrator, and with a special guest appearance by Zeus doing his usual bit (appearing in human guise and having fun with the ladies).

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 The Infinities
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. The Singularities by John Banville
  2. The Book of Getting Even by Benjamin Taylor
  3. Mefisto: A Novel by John Banville
  4. Continuums by Robert Carr
  5. A Person of Interest by Susan Choi
  6. Orpheus Lost: A Novel by Janette Turner Hospital
  7. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Goldstein
  8. The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
  9. The Embalmer's Book of Recipes by Ann Lingard
  10. Bonita Avenue by Peter Buwalda
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Categories:
Genre
MotifReligion,
TopicInfinity, Mathematical Physics,
MediumNovels,

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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)