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 | The Mathematician's Brain: |
The Mathematician's Brain poses a provocative question about the world's most brilliant yet eccentric mathematical minds: were they brilliant because of their eccentricities or in spite of them? In this thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Ruelle, the well-known mathematical physicist who helped create chaos theory, gives us a rare insider's account of the celebrated mathematicians he has known-their quirks, oddities, personal tragedies, bad behavior, descents into madness, tragic ends, and the sublime, inexpressible beauty of their most breathtaking mathematical discoveries. Consider the case of British mathematician Alan Turing. Credited with cracking the German Enigma code during World War II and conceiving of the modern computer, he was convicted of "gross indecency" for a homosexual affair and died in 1954 after eating a cyanide-laced apple--his death was ruled a suicide, though rumors of assassination still linger. Ruelle holds nothing back in his revealing and deeply personal reflections on Turing and other fellow mathematicians, including Alexander Grothendieck, René Thom, Bernhard Riemann, and Felix Klein. But this book is more than a mathematical tell-all. Each chapter examines an important mathematical idea and the visionary minds behind it. Ruelle meaningfully explores the philosophical issues raised by each, offering insights into the truly unique and creative ways mathematicians think and showing how the mathematical setting is most favorable for asking philosophical questions about meaning, beauty, and the nature of reality. The Mathematician's Brain takes you inside the world--and heads--of mathematicians. It's a journey you won't soon forget. David Ruelle is professor emeritus of mathematical physics at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in France and distinguished visiting professor of mathematics at Rutgers University. His books include Chance and Chaos (Princeton). "The text is enlivened by many unusual mathematical examples, and by Ruelle's reflections on his own and other famous mathematicians' experiences...If mathematics is what mathematicians do, are there any psychological traits or personalities that characterize mathematics? Ruelle addresses this lightly with some illuminating insights...Mathematicians and theoretical physicists will enjoy Ruelle."--Donal O'Shea, Nature "The mathematician David Ruelle is well known for his work on nonlinear dynamics and turbulence, and his new book, The Mathematician's Brain, is a book about mathematics and what it all means.... The book's value lies in Mr. Ruelle's description of the curious inner life of mathematicians."--David Berlinski, New York Sun "[David Ruelle], a mathematical physicist, reflects on how the mathematician works and how mathematics sheds light on the nature of knowledge. Ruelle also examines the anatomy of mathematical texts, looks at processes by which mathematical concepts are developed, and explores ideas such as infinity, the circle theorem, and algebraic geometry."--Science News "After a lifetime of research and teaching, [Ruelle argues] that mathematical breakthroughs do not come from simply manipulating symbols according to strict rules. His chapters on individual mathematicians work very well, and allow the reader...a real sense of what it is like to work at the forefront of the discipline."--Andrew Robinson, Physics World "An idiosyncratic, oddly intriguing work."--J. Mayer, Choice Endorsements: "David Ruelle has written an entertaining and thoughtful book on human theorizing in that most abstract science, mathematics. Yet its content has ramifications that extend well into other thought processes."--Stephen Smale, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago Another Princeton book by David Ruelle: Subject Areas:
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