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THE RIEMANN HYPOTHESIS

Name: THE RIEMANN HYPOTHESIS
Author: Karl Sabbagh
ISBN: 0-374-25007-3

THE GREATEST UNSOLVED PROBLEM IN MATHEMATICS

by Karl Sabbagh ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2003

A fine piece of scientific sociology.

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British author Sabbagh (A Rum Affair, 2000, etc.) looks at a major unsolved problem in pure math and the men working to solve it.

In 1859, the German mathematician Bernard Riemann stated his solution to the problem, which concerns the distribution of prime numbers in the natural number system. He could not provide a proof, but thought his answer “very probably true.” Since then, the sharpest minds in math have wrestled with it—so far, without a proof. But its importance is such that experts believe that a definitive answer would instantly settle a hundred other unsolved problems that assume its truth as a starting point. The author uses the problem as an opportunity to profile some two dozen Riemann specialists. The result is a surprisingly warm portrait that focuses as much on these men’s passion for mathematics and their reasons for becoming mathematicians as on the hypothesis itself. The central figure in this account is Purdue University’s Louis de Branges, who may be on the verge of proving the Riemann hypothesis. But most of his peers doubt his claim, even though de Branges solved another difficult problem, the Beiderback conjecture, several years ago. Sabbagh provides a good look at the culture of world-class mathematicians: their rituals and their jokes, their politics and their shortcomings (many are only mediocre at day-to-day calculation). “Toolkits” appended to the text offer brief refreshers in the key mathematical concepts (equations, graphs, matrices, etc.) that the subjects here use. Even so, the problem remains unsolved unless the experts accept de Branges’s proof, which is given in outline in an appendix. As the author admits, most readers will end up with no better idea of the dimensions of Riemann’s problem than before they started, but Sabbagh’s picture of the mathematicians’ world should amply compensate for that.

A fine piece of scientific sociology.

Pub Date: April 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-374-25007-3

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
PALESTINE
by Karl Sabbagh

- BOOK REVIEW
A RUM AFFAIR
by Karl Sabbagh

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.