MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Eon (1985)
Greg Bear
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Contributed by Sophie Ambrose

Its been quite a while since I read this, but some info is better than none! Its rather like "Rama" - a big asteroid appears over the earth in the near future. It was obviously made to be inhabited but seems empty. Various groups battle over it, and then they realise there's singularity at one end so that it goes on forver. There's some maths describing this but mainly it's about the two societies. (Ours and the one which made the asteroid)

Contributed by Daren Scot Wilson

While it was a great read, and grandly mind bending due to the spacetime bending, the math content is really minimal beyond advanced jargon that sounds cool. The idea that in curved spacetime a circle's circumference isn't a certain popular number times the radius - yes that idea is there, but really the novel is about Humankind's history and future in a very big way. The seemingly infinite space tunnel in the asteroid plays a role similar to the cosmic trip in Contact - a mechanism to connect faraway places, times. Still, readers who like a bit of technical math or physics jargon will enjoy its occasional appearances the way a fine diner enjoys parsley decorating a bowl of soup.

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 Eon
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke / Gentry Lee
  2. Doctor Who: The Turing Test by Paul Leonard
  3. Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
  4. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  5. The Circumference of the World by Lavie Tidhar
  6. Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier
  7. The Singularities by John Banville
  8. Light by M. John Harrison
  9. Tangents by Greg Bear
  10. Diamond Dogs by Alastair Reynolds
Ratings for Eon:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
1.5/5 (2 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3.5/5 (2 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifAliens, War,
Topic
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)