MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Brain Wave (1954)
Poul Anderson
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This debut novel from SF superstar Anderson explains that the human intelligence is far more powerful than we have thus far seen. In fact, once we escape from the effects of a force field that is limiting our mental abilities, our intelligence takes a "quantum leap". The only mathematical content is a paragraph detailing the thoughts of a student who independently derives the idea of calculus while working on his algebra homework.

Contributed by penny smith

Actually there is more math content here. There is mention of solving systems of nonlinear pde in one's head. There is mention of Maxwell's equations and a book by Coddington.

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(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 Brain Wave
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Tau Zero by Poul Anderson
  2. Security by Poul Anderson
  3. Round the Moon by Jules Verne
  4. The God Patent by Ransom Stephens
  5. Habitus by James Flint
  6. The Hollow Man by Dan Simmons
  7. Star, Bright by Mark Clifton
  8. Ratner's Star by Don DeLillo
  9. Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
  10. The Woman Who Shook the World-Tree by Michael Swanwick
Ratings for Brain Wave:
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 (2 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3.5/5 (2 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifGenius, Prodigies, Math Education,
TopicAnalysis/Calculus/Differential,
MediumNovels,

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Exciting News: The total number of works of mathematical fiction listed in this database recently reached a milestone. The 1,500th entry is The Man of Forty Crowns by Voltaire. Thanks to Vijay Fafat for writing the summary of that work (and so many others). I am also grateful to everyone who has contributed to this website. Heck, I'm grateful to everyone who visited the site. Thank you!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)