A fine piece of scientific sociology.
British author Sabbagh (A Rum Affair, 2000, etc.) looks at a major unsolved problem in pure math and the men working to solve it.
In 1859, the German mathematician Bernard Riemann stated his solution to the problem, which concerns the distribution of prime numbers in the natural number system. He could not provide a proof, but thought his answer “very probably true.” Since then, the sharpest minds in math have wrestled with it—so far, without a proof. But its importance is such that experts believe that a definitive answer would instantly settle a hundred other unsolved problems that assume its truth as a starting point. The author uses the problem as an opportunity to profile some two dozen Riemann specialists. The result is a surprisingly warm portrait that focuses as much on these men’s passion for mathematics and their reasons for becoming mathematicians as on the hypothesis itself. The central figure in this account is Purdue University’s Louis de Branges, who may be on the verge of proving the Riemann hypothesis. But most of his peers doubt his claim, even though de Branges solved another difficult problem, the Beiderback conjecture, several years ago. Sabbagh provides a good look at the culture of world-class mathematicians: their rituals and their jokes, their politics and their shortcomings (many are only mediocre at day-to-day calculation). “Toolkits” appended to the text offer brief refreshers in the key mathematical concepts (equations, graphs, matrices, etc.) that the subjects here use. Even so, the problem remains unsolved unless the experts accept de Branges’s proof, which is given in outline in an appendix. As the author admits, most readers will end up with no better idea of the dimensions of Riemann’s problem than before they started, but Sabbagh’s picture of the mathematicians’ world should amply compensate for that.
A fine piece of scientific sociology.Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-374-25007-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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