MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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To Hold Infinity (1998)
John Meaney
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Meaney's first novel, which only saw its US release in 2006, is not quite as mathematical as some of his later books, but the foundations are there. We encounter "mu-space" (additional spatial dimensions that are somehow fractal in nature and are traversed by the bio-engineered "Pilots"). And, I like this quote in which the character ponders the implications of the "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics":

(quoted from To Hold Infinity)

Why does maths lie at the heart of science? Why are features of the universe algorithmically compressible? Of what strange substrate is maths itself an emergent property?

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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 To Hold Infinity
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Paradox by John Meaney
  2. Resolution by John Meaney
  3. Context by John Meaney
  4. The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan
  5. Habitus by James Flint
  6. Diaspora by Greg Egan
  7. The Hollow Man by Dan Simmons
  8. Strange Attractors by William Sleator
  9. Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer
  10. Sushi Never Sleeps by Clifford Pickover
Ratings for To Hold Infinity:
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:
2/5 (1 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3/5 (2 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifMath as Beautiful/Exciting/Useful,
TopicChaos/Fractals,
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)