In this Australian novel for teenagers, a student who lives in the shadow of her twin is able to find her own identity and some self-respect with the help of a maths teacher. The teacher challenges her with some open ended problems from discrete dynamics, such as studying the orbits of the difference equation
pn+1=sinpn
with different initial values.
The literally chaotic behavior of such systems, and her ability to understand them, gives her a new way to think about the world and a greater confidence in herself.
Mathematician Robyn Arianrhod is said to have collaborated with the author on the mathematical portions. This book was republished in England in 1999, but now is difficult to obtain.
|