Overview
O'Shea tells the fascinating story of this mathematical mystery and its solution by the eccentric Mr. Perelman. -Wall Street Journal In 1904, Henri Poincare, a giant among mathematicians who transformed the fledging area of topology into a powerful field essential to all mathematics and physics, posed the Poincare conjecture, a tantalizing puzzle that speaks to the possible shape of the universe. For more than a century, the conjecture resisted attempts to prove or disprove it. As Donal O'Shea reveals in his elegant narrative, Poincare's conjecture opens a door to the history of geometry, from the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece to the celebrated geniuses of the nineteenth-century German academy and, ultimately, to a fascinating array of personalities-Poincare and Bernhard Riemann, William Thurston and Richard Hamilton, and the eccentric genius who appears to have solved it, Grigory Perelman. The solution seems certain to open up new corners of the mathematical universe.
Full Product Details
Author: Donal O'Shea
Publisher: Walker & Company
Imprint: Walker & Company
Edition: annotated edition
Dimensions:
Width: 14.60cm
, Height: 2.10cm
, Length: 21.10cm
Weight: 0.281kg
ISBN: 9780802716545
ISBN 10: 0802716547
Pages: 293
Publication Date: 02 January 2008
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
Praise for The Poincaré Conjecture : <p>“O'Shea inspires readers to note the beauty, application, and humanity involved with this mathematical journey.”— Library Journal <p>O'Shea describes mind-bending structures in topology as clearly as most of us can “describe a cube…”— Publishers Weekly “Accessible…. valiant nonnumerical clarity…”— Booklist Fascinating….[O'Shea] does a good job of explaining the mathematics involved in solving the conjecture… — Wall St Journal <p>“A layman’s guide to this mathematical odyssey is long overdue, and this one will appeal to math whizzes and interested novices alike.”— Discover magazine <p>“O’Shea shows that, just like chasing ‘sensual passions,’ the single-minded, relentless pursuit of proof can be a creative process.”— Chicago Tribune <p> “O’Shea tells the whole story in this b
Praise for The Poincare Conjecture : <p> O'Shea inspires readers to note the beauty, application, and humanity involved with this mathematical journey. -- Library Journal <p>O'Shea describes mind-bending structures in topology as clearly as most of us can describe a cube... -- Publishers Weekly Accessible.... valiant nonnumerical clarity... -- Booklist Fascinating....[O'Shea] does a good job of explaining the mathematics involved in solving the conjecture... -- Wall St Journal <p> A layman's guide to this mathematical odyssey is long overdue, and this one will appeal to math whizzes and interested novices alike. -- Discover magazine <p> O'Shea shows that, just like chasing 'sensual passions, ' the single-minded, relentless pursuit of proof can be a creative process. -- Chicago Tribune <p> O'Shea tells the whole story in this book, neatly interweaving his main theme with the history of ideas about our planet and universe. There is good coverage of all the main personalities involved, each one set in the social and academic context of his time. -- New York Sun Donal O'Shea has written a truly marvelous book. Not only does he explain the long-unsolved, beautiful Poincare conjecture, he also makes clear how the Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman finally solved it. Around this drama O'Shea weaves a tapestry of elementary topology and astonishing concepts, such as the Ricci flow, that have contributed to Perelman's brilliant achievement. One can't read The Poincare Conjecture without an overwhelming awe at the infinite depths and richness of a mathematical realm not made by us. --Martin Gardner, author of The Annotated Alice and Aha! Insight <p> The history of the Poincareconjecture is the story of one of the most important areas of modern mathematics. Donal O'Shea tells that story in a delightful and informative way--the concepts, the issues, and the people who made everything happen. I recommend it highly. --Keith Devlin, Stanford University, author of The Millennium Problems In The Poincare Conjecture, Mr. O'Shea tells the fascinating story of this mathematical mystery and its solution by the eccentric Mr. Perelman . . . Mr. O'Shea does a good job of explaining the mathematics involved in solving the conjecture . . . [He] avoids cliche (we're spared the usual reference to coffee cups turning into doughnuts as an explanation of how surfaces might stretch without closing holes), and he tries to keep things lively. --Amir D. Aczel, The Wall Street Journal
Author Information
<b>Donal O'Shea </b>is a professor of mathematics and the dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. This is his first book for a general audience. He lives in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
