Overview

A compelling narrative that blends a story of infinity with the tagic tale of a tormented and brilliant mathematician. From the end of the ninteenth century until his death, one of history's greatest mathematicians languished in an asylum, driven mad by an almost Faustian thirst for universal knowledge. THE MYSTERY OF THE ALEPH tells the story of Georg Cantor (1845-1918), a Russian born German whose work on the 'continuum problem' would bring us closer than any mathemetician before him in helping us to comprehend the nature of infinity. A respected mathematician himself, Dr. Aczel follows Cantor's life and traces the roots of his enigmatic theories. From the Pythagoreans, the Greek cult of mathematics, to the mystical Jewish numerology found in the Kabbalah, THE MYSTERY OF THE ALEPH follows the search for an answer that may never truly be trusted.

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9780743422994

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An engaging, pellucid explanation of the mathematical understanding of infinity, enlivened by a historical gloss on the age-old affinities between religious and secular conceptions of the infinite.

""An engaging, pellucid explanation of the mathematical understanding of infinity, enlivened by a historical gloss on the age-old affinities between religious and secular conceptions of the infinite.""

The attempt to understand the nature of infinity is one of the most exciting and enduring adventure stories. Aczel starts by looking at the philosophers, religious scholars, mathematicians and mystics who have tried through the ages to explain the concept. In effect, an effort to explain the Absolute or God himself. Each of their discoveries, from Pythagoras to Galileo, to the secrets of the Kabbalah, would provide vital stepping stones culminating in the astonishing work of mathematician Georg Cantor. Professor of Mathematics at Halle in the 1870s and the creator of modern set theory, Cantor believed that mathematics alone was capable of building a structure of truths that would provide the scaffolding by which the infinite could be accessed. Refusing to be deterred by the concept of endlessness, he attempted to prove that actual infinity could be reached and named and consisted of various levels - the transfinite numbers. After years of solitary work, the knowledge was bought at enormous cost. Battles with traditional mathematicians contributed to a series of nervous breakdowns, confinement in private asylums and eventually, his death. Of those who attempted to follow in his footsteps, Godel in the 1930s was similarly afflicted with breakdowns. Few have been able to withstand the intensity of contemplating infinity for long and Aczel suggests that we may never be capable of understanding it. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Amir D. Aczel, Ph.d, is the author of FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM, GOD'S EQUATION, EINSTEIN'S RELATIVITY AND THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE and several other books. His work has been translated into Turkish, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Chinese and Spanish. An internationally known mathemacian, he lives in Waltham Massachusetts.

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