MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Adventures of Topology Man (2005)
Alex Kasman
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
Highly Rated!

Parody is easy....topology is hard!

In this short story, I made use of (and made fun of) the classic superhero comic book genre to illustrate some ideas from topology. So, we end up seeing a battle between Topology Man (who can change the topology of objects) and his arch-enemy Homotopy (with the power to change objects in ways that preserve their topology).

Contributed by Mark Nelson

I recently read your collection of mathematical fiction "Reality Conditions". Whilst there were several stories that were particularly good, one stood out for me: The Adventures of Topology Man. Not because I am a topologist nor because I know what category theory is. But I just loved the superhero dialogue

"Only a functor of evil, Homotopy!"

It cracked me up.

I'm looking forward to reading more Topology Man in your next collection!

My next collection? Now, you're cracking me up!

Anyway, this story was not meant to be taken too seriously, but still to give some sense of what orientability is, what it means for a space to be Hausdorff, etc.

Perhaps reviewer Mary Gray (Mathematical Intelligencer) took it a bit too seriously when she expressed concern about the name of another super-hero in the story: Category Theory Girl. Yes, I was perfectly aware of the fact that calling the male character "man" and the female character "girl" was inequitable. But, this is of course the way it was done in the classic comic books, and I was just turning it into a joke. (You will note that Category Theory Girl is both more powerful as a hero and also a better mathematician than the title character!)

Contributed by Mark Nelson

Yes, I liked "Topology Man"... but I have received a heavy dosage of "superhero comics" and I enjoyed the way that you sent up the genre.

Reading through your email it occurred to me that "Topology Man" was different to the other stories, in that it offered an intriguing teaching idea. Now, I will never ever in my life teach a course in topology. But if I did... it would be interesting to give the students a copy of "Topology Man" at the start of the course. Then at appropriate times within the course refer back to the story to show how it illustrates the theorems. Then in the final assignment it might be fun to say "How could Topology Man use the following theorems to help fight crime?". With the right students you might even give them, as an assignment, the task of writing a new chapter in the life of "Topology Man". And once I am thinking along these lines, perhaps there are other mathematical superheroes writing to be discovered...

Contributed by Li-Chung Hung

"The Adventures of Topology Man" is very interesting. When the definition of Hausdorff is mentioned in this story, the scene is quite funny and made a deep impression on me. Li-Chung

Contributed by Kevin Roberge

I'd love it if someone illustrated this! As with many of the stories in Reality Conditions this one is great. It takes mathematics we have all seen in the classroom and made jokes about in the office and weaves a story about it. I also liked the way it fit into the superhero genre. I'm a little new to that genre but have been working my way into it. I suppose another reason I'm partial to this story is that I'm studying algebraic topology myself and have always enjoyed the area. Anyways, funny story, great lines and a great way to illustrate how important it is for our space to be Hausdorff.

Contributed by Andrew Breslin

As a previous commenter observed, "only a functor of evil, Homotopy!" had me laughing out loud. And mind you, I find the shorthand "lol!" to be obnoxious in the extreme as it is untrue 99% of the time it is used. But I truly did laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" the people on the subway asked.

"Topology."

"What's that?"

"The study of the properties of geometric figures or solids that are not changed by bicontinuous one-to-one transformations," I replied.

They let me return to my reading. Some of them moved to more distant seats.

New for April 1st 2016: You asked for it. (Well, some people asked for it...maybe not you personally.) Now, finally, here it is. The cover of the long-awaited comic book version of this mathematical comic book parody has been "leaked to the press" prior to its official publication. (Rumor has it that the international hackster known by the codename "Hauke" is responsible for the leak.) Click on the image to see it full-sized:

More information about this work can be found at another page on this Website.
(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 The Adventures of Topology Man
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. 3-adica by Greg Egan
  2. Normed Trek by Harun Šiljak
  3. Luck be a Lady by Dean Wesley Smith
  4. Monster by Alex Kasman
  5. Unreasonable Effectiveness by Alex Kasman
  6. Agha and Math by Vladmir Karapetoff
  7. 1963 by Alan Moore
  8. I Had to Call In a Mathematician by Erik Talvila
  9. The New Warriors (Issue #4) by Fabian Nicieza (writer) / Mark Bagley (artist)
  10. To The Power Against by Carrie Smith (writer) / Stephanie Lantry (Artist)
Ratings for The Adventures of Topology Man:
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:
3.33/5 (3 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreHumorous, Science Fiction,
MotifEvil mathematicians, Cool/Heroic Mathematicians, Female Mathematicians, Mobius Strip/Nonorientability,
TopicGeometry/Topology/Trigonometry, Algebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
MediumShort Stories, Graphic Novel/Comic Book/Manga,

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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)