Driven by a profound love of shapes and symmetries, Donald Coxeter (1907–2003) preserved the tradition of classical geometry when it was under attack by influential mathematicians who promoted a more algebraic and austere approach. His essential contributions include the famed Coxeter groups and Coxeter diagrams, tools developed through his deep understanding of mathematical symmetry. The Man Who Saved Geometry tells the story of Coxeter’s life and work, placing him alongside history’s greatest geometers, from Pythagoras and Plato to Archimedes and Euclid—and it reveals how Coxeter’s boundless creativity reflects the adventurous, ever-evolving nature of geometry itself. With an incisive, touching foreword by Douglas R. Hofstadter, The Man Who Saved Geometry is an unforgettable portrait of a visionary mathematician.
Siobhan Roberts is an award-winning science journalist and regular contributor to the New York Times. She is the author of Genius at Play and Wind Wizard (both Princeton).
“Imagine you grew up as a super fan of a musician or artist who made your world make sense, but in this case it’s the mathematician who inspired the titanic artists of the era. You crawled through libraries to trace every last little scrap of their work, the deep tracks. You grew up in a weird hippie geometric house inspired by their insights. You spent hours internalizing shapes that were hard to imagine, that they were the first to describe. And then this book, which brings the person into focus. Imagine your heart beating just a little faster as you open this book. That is what will happen.”—Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, author, composer, pioneer of virtual reality
“As someone much of whose academic research has been on algebraic structures discovered by, and named after, Donald Coxeter, I found this book an absolute joy. Siobhan Roberts has a rare gift for biography. Her narrative is full of compelling anecdotes and her writing on complex topics is beautifully clear. This is a fabulous book!”—Sarah Hart, author of Once upon a Prime
“There is perhaps no better way to prepare for the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow than to learn the language of geometry.”―Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe
“There is no substitute for Coxeter, and no substitute for this long-overdue treatment of his life.”—Jordan Ellenberg, Washington Post
“Siobhan Roberts has achieved something extraordinary with this book, a paean to a geometer and all geometry. It tells a brave, compelling story. It comprehends a whole universe—our universe—of kaleidoscopes and crystals, groups and symmetry, bicycles and snowflakes, music and movement. It is lucid, beautiful, and exalting.”—James Gleick, author of Chaos
“[The Man Who Saved Geometry] offers poignant looks into Coxeter’s soul.”—Jeffrey Rosenthal, Globe and Mail
“An elegant biography of an elegant man.”—John Horton Conway, Princeton University
