MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Tolman Trick (2006)
Manil Suri
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Professor Tolman attends a conference at the Mathematics Institute at Oberwolfach, but a young colleague suspects that the result he is presenting may not be correct. Published in the first issue of Subtropics, a new literary magazine from the University of Florida. It was also republished in The Shape of Content in 2008.

The author, already known in literary circles for his novel The Death of Vishnu, is a professional mathematician specializing in the numerics of PDEs and so it is not surprising that in this story he gives an accurate portrayal of mathematics and the social aspects of math conferences.

More information about this work can be found at another page on this Website.
(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 Tolman Trick
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Herr Doctor's Wondrous Smile by Vladimir Tasic
  2. The Penultimate Conjecture by Leonard Michaels
  3. Zilkowski's Theorem by Karl Iagnemma
  4. Good Benito by Alan P. Lightman
  5. The Last Theorem by Buzz Mauro
  6. The Arnold Proof by Jessica Francis Kane
  7. Towel Season by Ron Carlson
  8. A Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin
  9. The Wild Numbers by Philibert Schogt
  10. The Ore Miner's Wife by Karl Iagnemma
Ratings for The Tolman Trick:
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:
5/5 (1 votes)
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Literary Quality:
4/5 (1 votes)
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Categories:
Genre
MotifAcademia, Proving Theorems,
Topic
MediumShort Stories,

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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)