MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
Lev Grossman
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Contributed by Aidan Tompkins

This short film is based on a short story by Lev Grossman is a repeat-the-same-day romcom that uses 2D projections of a tesseract as a plot point! I liked it even if it’s a little handwavy, and math also comes up as a conversation topic for the nerdy characters, with a subplot of learning algebra while they’re stuck in the loop. As a high-school geek, I really enjoyed the romance sprinkled with numbers, and it was wholesome enough for everyone else to enjoy it too! I’d rate the math content at a 2/5 and quality as 4/5.

(quoted from The Map of Tiny Perfect Things)

So the first thing that you need to know about math is that it's always perfect.

Presumably the short story also has math in it. At this point, I haven't seen the movie or read the story. If you know, please write me.

Contributed by Curtis Carney

I felt that the movie (have not read the book) was mathematical in many ways; in addition to math content and ideas peppered throughout the story, it was mathematical reasoning that enabled the characters to overcome their situation. Also, it was refreshing that the female lead was the stronger mathematician. I especially like that she called out the glib aphorism that "time is the 4th dimension" (l strongly agree) but then she used it as the 3rd dimension for her map (solving the tesseract).

More information about this work can be found at www.imdb.com.
(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 Map of Tiny Perfect Things
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Time Travel for Love and Profit by Sarah Lariviere
  2. Summer Wars by Mamoru Hosoda (Director)
  3. The Smithsonian Institution by Gore Vidal
  4. Proof Geometric Construction Can Solve All Love Affairs by Takahashi Manbou (lyricist) / Ane Manbou (illustrator)
  5. Bonnie's Story: A Blonde's Guide to Mathematics by Janis Hill
  6. Calculating the Speed of Heartbreak by Wendy Nikel
  7. The Secret Number by Igor Teper
  8. Gödel Incomplete by Martha Goddard (Writer and Director)
  9. Monster's Proof by Richard Lewis
  10. Private i by S. R. Algernon
Ratings for The Map of Tiny Perfect Things:
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:
3.5/5 (2 votes)
..
Literary Quality:
3/5 (2 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreHumorous, Science Fiction, Romance, Young Adult,
MotifHigher/Lower Dimensions, Time Travel,
TopicMathematical Physics,
MediumShort Stories, Films,

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Exciting News: The 1,600th entry was recently added to this database of mathematical fiction! Also, for those of you interested in non-fictional math books let me (shamelessly) plug the recent release of the second edition of my soliton theory textbook.

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)