FANTASIA MATHEMATICA

by Clifton-Ed. Fadiman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 21, 1957

Oddments mathematical, collected and introduced all too briefly by Clifton Fadiman, are interesting more as a phenomenon of the contemporary market for science fiction and its tangents than they are as literary material. Fadiman has snipped a section of How Green Was My Valley demonstrating woman's eternal war with the decimal point, relied on much familiar material (Huxley's Young Archimedes and Plato's Neno leavened the collections with several satirical bits, and in general rounded up a patchwork which could have been done by any anthologer. The personal qualities which have commanded a wide audience for Fadiman's earlier anthologies are lacking here. It seems unlikely that the average reader will feel either instructed or very entertained. He confesses that his own mathematical prowess is limited. One feels here that a distinguished anthologer has chosen the wrong medium. Those choice commentaries with which he introduced each selection in Reading I Have Liked are sadly missing here.

Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1957

ISBN: 0387949313

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1957

Categories: NONFICTION