MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1976)
Jeffrey Archer
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A mathematics professor who lectures at Oxford on group theory is among four clever people who plot to get revenge on the con artist who duped them in this, the first novel by politician and now best-selling author, Jeffrey Archer.

Contributed by Johan R

I liked the book and I think all fans of Jeffery Archer would enjoy it.

The mathematician in the book is portrayed positively, as the smart and resourceful leader of the gang who wants to steal back their money. After the beginning of the book I thought it would portray him according to the stereotype of being unfit to deal with the real world but in fact the book shows him as very clever in that he succeeds in repeatedly con a conster, as well as moral in that he doesn't steal back more than what he lost in the first place.

At one point the image that mathematicians are human calucators is mentioned and it is made clear that the mathematician in fact finds arithmetical calculations boring.

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.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 Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Echoes from the Past by Edward Michel-Bird
  2. Percentage Player by Leslie Charteris
  3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  4. The Crimson Cipher by Susan Page Davis
  5. The Visiting Professor by Robert Littell
  6. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs
  7. Qui perd gagne! by Laurent Bénégui (Director)
  8. Fermat's Room (La Habitacion de Fermat) by Luis Piedrahita / Rodrigo Sopeña
  9. Oh, Brother by Stanley Hart
  10. Flame War: A Cyberthriller by Joshua Quittner / Michelle Slatalla
Ratings for Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less:
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:
1/5 (3 votes)
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Literary Quality:
3.33/5 (3 votes)
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Categories:
GenreMystery, Adventure/Espionage,
MotifAcademia,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
MediumNovels,

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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)