MathFiction: The Mathematical Man (Robert Musil)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Mathematical Man (1913)

Robert Musil
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Contributed by Andrea Albrecht

Robert Musil's "The mathematical Man" is an essay, but it is fiction! Musil uses the foundational crisis of mathematics to draft a new kind of fiction, modern fiction, later realized in "The Man without Qualities". The main assumption: "Today there is no other possibility of having such fantastic, visionary feelings as mathematicians do". It is a very witty, artfully arranged piece of literature. There is an English translation: Robert Musil. Precision and Soul: Essays and Addresses, translated by Burton Pike, David S. Luft, Chicago UP 1990.

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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 The Mathematical Man

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

The Man Without Qualities Vol. 1: A Sort of Introduction and Pseudo Reality Prevails by Robert Musil
Confusions of Young Torless by Robert Musil
Space by John Buchan
The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice
The Genius by Nikolai Georgievich Garin-Mikhailovskii
The Finan-seer by Edward L. Locke
Geometry in the South Pacific by Sylvia Warner
Royal Highness (Königliche Hoheit) by Thomas Mann
Young Archimedes by Aldous Huxley
The Unknown Quantity by Hermann Broch

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(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)