The story begins with the narrator relaying some anecdotes about famous historical scientists and mathematicians. The story about Boltzman is a joke about the way he lectured by saying complicated mathematical formula out loud without writing them on the board. (In the version of the story I am reading, the version reprinted in the anthology "The Dark Side of the Earth" by Signet in 1964), the formulas Boltzman is reciting are rendered in standard text and are almost funny by themselves. For instance, I'm guessing that _aS^b is supposed to be the integral from a to b?) It also includes a story about Jacques Charles which is not mathematical in itself aside from the fact that it describes Charles as a mathematician.

Later in the story, Hassel attempts to talk to the colleague who is (at that very moment) making out with Hassel's wife, and does so in way that humorously combines mathematical notation with the names of historical figures. I will attempt to replicate it here:

At that point, the narrator tells us that he has copied Hassel's formula down on the hood of a passing car, but Murphy seems oblivious and continues kissing Mrs. Hassel.

When Hassel finally gets to talk to the narrator, who has a better understanding of what is going on than he does, he again briefly tries talking in equations, but the narrator cuts him short...and I think that's all of the math in it. So, there's not a lot of math in this story, but it is a fun read, especially for anyone with a taste for mathematically-flavored science fiction.

Thanks to Anna Engelsone, a professor in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Maryville College wrote to suggest I add this classic science fiction story to my database.