| Most members of Anasunya's species have "a gift". Since she has a gift of mathematics, she leaves her aquatic home and begins working at the
Temple of Mathematical Arts. She has a gift that allows her to intuitively understand, almost to live in equations and is asked by another alien species to study equations describing an intricate higher dimensional geometric object that is beyond their understanding. As she studies it, she comes to think that the embedded, self-intersecting, 4-dimensional sub-manifold may not be merely interesting and beautiful in an abstract sense, but may have tremendous significance in the real world as well.
This is a beautifully written bit of mathematical fiction by an author who apparently knows mathematics pretty well. Highly recommended for fans of "hard" science fiction. |
