MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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WWW: Wake (2009)
Robert J. Sawyer
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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A blind math prodigy uses her ability to "see" what is going on in the Internet (watch out for the pun: Websight) to discover the emergence of a virtual life form. This is a solid and very readable hard SF novel, more about AI and technology than about math, but there is more than enough math to justify its inclusion on this website. In addition to the protagonist's discussions of how much she loves math class, we encounter a lot of discussion of cellular automata (including mention of Stephen Wolfram and Mathematica) as well as some information theory (especially Zipf's law).

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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 WWW: Wake
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. River of Gods by Ian McDonald
  2. The Living Equation by Nathan Schachner
  3. The Rapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctorow / Charles Stross
  4. The Blind Geometer by Kim Stanley Robinson
  5. Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer
  6. Eye of the Beholder by Alex Kasman
  7. Bellwether by Connie Willis
  8. Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
  9. The Singularities by John Banville
  10. The God Patent by Ransom Stephens
Ratings for WWW: Wake:
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:
3/5 (1 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
4/5 (1 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifProdigies, Female Mathematicians,
TopicComputers/Cryptography,
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)