MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

Home All New Browse Search About

...
Letters to a Young Mathematician (2006)
Ian Stewart
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
Highly Rated!
Note: This work of mathematical fiction is recommended by Alex for math majors, math grad students (and maybe even math professors).

I listed this one here before I had a chance to read it and am now wondering whether it should be counted as fiction at all. This is an excellent book which provides a lot of useful information about mathematics as a science and as a career. It takes the form of letters from a mathematician to his niece as she moves from high school through college and finally on to a position as a math professor, providing her with advice and mentoring all along the way. Although the niece is fictional, the mathematician seems to be Stewart himself, and so the "letters" are more like non-fictional essays on mathematics with the imaginary character of the niece merely providing the motivation and continuity.

At least for the moment I will keep this here and give it a low score for "literary quality" not because it is written poorly but because it isn't really fiction at all.

Contributed by Yolande

It's true that this book isn't actually fiction, but I don't think the genre affects the Literary Quality. It was well written, and it would attract the attention of both adults, and younger adults. Maybe even teens. I’m fifteen, and personally, I found it to be a very fascinating and interesting read.

In a whole, the book was excellent, and provided a brief little peek at the history of Mathematics. I recommend it for anybody that’s interested in becoming a Mathematician, or just likes math. =)

Buy this work of mathematical fiction and read reviews at amazon.com. Amazon.com logo
(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 Letters to a Young Mathematician
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. A Certain Ambiguity: A Mathematical Novel by Gaurav Suri / Hartosh Singh Bal
  2. Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki
  3. Turing (A Novel About Computation) by Christos Papadimitriou
  4. The Kissing Number by Ian Stewart
  5. Lucy and David and the God Equation by Alan McKenzie
  6. Pythagorean Crimes by Tefcros Michaelides
  7. Sophie's Diary by Dora Musielak
  8. The Shackles of Conviction by James R. Meyer
  9. Report from the Ambassador to Cida-2 by Clifton Cunningham
  10. Intoxicating Heights (Höhenrausch. Die Mathematik des XX. Jahrhunderts in zwanzig Gehirnen) by Dietmar Dath
Ratings for Letters to a Young Mathematician:
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:
4.75/5 (4 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3/5 (4 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreDidactic,
MotifAcademia, Real Mathematicians, Female Mathematicians, Math as Beautiful/Exciting/Useful,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory, Analysis/Calculus/Differential, Real Mathematics,
Medium

Home All New Browse Search About

Your Help Needed: Some site visitors remember reading works of mathematical fiction that neither they nor I can identify. It is time to crowdsource this problem and ask for your help! You would help a neighbor find a missing pet...can't you also help a fellow site visitor find some missing works of mathematical fiction? Please take a look and let us know if you have seen these missing stories anywhere!.

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)