The first character we meet in the book is Delia Welegtabit, an albino child from an island nation in the South Pacific who "had shown an aptitude mostly for numbers, which require no language but themselves". She happens to come across a copy of "Lode Stars", a book whose very existence is doubted by many and then grows up to be a math instructor in London. But, her husband Levi becomes dangerously obsessed with understanding the universe through equations and also with the book his wife claims to have briefly had as a child. Here are a couple of passages from that part of the book to give you an idea of what it is like:

Levi disappears, presumably to find a copy of "Lode Stars". So, Delia hires a rare book seller to find the book, hoping that will help her find her husband. But, they are not the only ones looking for the book. It is also being sought by a violent mobster. (And, it is also apparently being watched by aliens who narrate some portions of the novel.)

The author of "Lode Stars" is a Golden Age science fiction author. Clearly one influence in the creation of his character is L. Ron Hubbard (author of two works of mathematical fiction in this database) who also created a religion. Through this character, the reader encounters many other famous SF authors like Asimov and Heinlein, who are portrayed (warts and all) gathering at homes, bars, and science fiction conventions.

The middle portion of The Circumference of the World is supposed to be a copy of the novel "Lode Stars" itself, whose protagonist also happens to be named Delia. This is just one of the many coincidences in the novel that seems to mean something deep. In fact, the whole book feels as if it is saying something about the big philosophical questions. I don't think it actually says anything, however. I suppose writing something that sounds meaningful is a skill in itself, but it left me wishing there was less smoke and more fire to it.

Similarly, although two of the characters are mathematicians and math is mentioned relatively frequently, it does not in the end seem to have anything interesting to say about mathematics. It is true that mathematical equations arise in the study of black holes, which are important in to the Scientology-like religion in this novel. Indeed,the book even mentions mathematician Karl Schwarzschild who first found these singularities in solutions to Einstein's Equations. Paul Erdos' name is also dropped, as an example of a mathematician who used amphetamines to boost his productivity. And I suppose the idea that "we are all just information" is also mentioned a few times, and that might be a connection to math.

Aside from that, the only thing I can think to mention about math in this book is that at one point it comments that it always seems to be men and not women who try to explain the world through equations. If I could find that passage in my book again I would quote it here and remark that I think it is both false and sexist...but it seems to have disappeared, like the book "Lode Stars" does after it has been read.