MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Szatan Z Siodmej Klasy (1949)
Kornel Makuszynski
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Website visitor David Shay suggested that I add this Polish novel written for young adults in which one of the characters is an amateur mathematician attempting to prove Fermat's Last Theorem.

Note added July 2008: I also received e-mail from Dora Musielak, author of Sophie's Diary who provides more information:

Contributed by Dora Musielak

Dear Alex,

I just discovered that you included a book in Polish and wanted to let you know my husband and I are working on its translation into English. We plan to have it ready by the end of the year. A tentative translation of the title is "The menace in 7th grade".

Szatan Z Siodmej Klasy is indeed a beloved book by school children in Poland for decades. Just want to clarify that it is NOT a math book per se but rather it's a story about a bright, restless boy and his adventures, and the relationship of the story with math comes from a mathematician the boy meets along the way. So, readers should not expect to see any numbers or equations.

I'll let you know when we're done with the translation.

Dora

That is great news. I'm looking forward to seeing the translation and hope that an American publisher picks it up.

More information about this work can be found at www.polonia.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 Szatan Z Siodmej Klasy
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  2. Many Moons by James Thurber
  3. Counting on Frank by Rod Clement
  4. The Man Who Counted : A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan
  5. Night of the Eerie Equations by Robert Black
  6. Küplerin Savasi by Ahmet Baki Yerli
  7. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
  8. Hannah, Divided by Adele Griffin
  9. The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban
  10. The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods by Ann Cameron
Ratings for Szatan Z Siodmej Klasy:
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 (1 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
4/5 (1 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreYoung Adult,
Motif
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
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)