Poincare's Prize: The Hundred-Year Quest to Solve One of Math's Greatest Puzzles - Softcover

Szpiro, George G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452289645 ISBN 13: 9780452289642

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2008

Synopsis

The amazing story of one of the greatest math problems of all time and the reclusive genius who solved it

In the tradition of Fermat’s Enigma and Prime Obsession, George Szpiro brings to life the giants of mathematics who struggled to prove a theorem for a century and the mysterious man from St. Petersburg, Grigory Perelman, who fi nally accomplished the impossible. In 1904 Henri Poincaré developed the Poincaré Conjecture, an attempt to understand higher-dimensional space and possibly the shape of the universe. The problem was he couldn’t prove it. A century later it was named a Millennium Prize problem, one of the seven hardest problems we can imagine. Now this holy grail of mathematics has been found.

Accessibly interweaving history and math, Szpiro captures the passion, frustration, and excitement of the hunt, and provides a fascinating portrait of a contemporary noble-genius.

About this title

About the Author

George G. Szpiro is a mathematician and prizewinning journalist with an MBA from Stanford and a Ph.D. in mathematical economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His previous book, Kepler?s Conjecture, was published in five languages to international critical acclaim.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Imagine Oedipus solving the riddle of the Sphinx only then to refuse the crown offered as the reward for his triumph. A modern version of such an improbable event forms the spine of Szpiro's remarkable narrative. Himself an accomplished mathematician, Szpiro recounts the story of how a geometrical puzzle worthy of the most voracious sphinx finally yielded to an eccentric Russian genius who has since refused the honors and million-dollar prize proffered by an astonished world. The mathematical puzzle, readers learn, originated with the French polymath Henri Poincaré, whose revolutionary topology generated a tantalizing conjecture about how multidimensional bodies might all be transformed into spheres. Only specialists can fully understand this famous conjecture, but Szpiro translates its essential features into remarkably accessible analogies—rubber bands wrapped around a bagel, for instance. Readers learn much not only about the conjecture but also about the many scholars consumed by passion to prove—or disprove—it. Readers meet, among others, the radical but gentlemanly "Papa" Papakyriakopoulos and the playboy windsurfer Richard Hamilton. However, Szpiro accords pride of place to Grigori Perelman, the reclusive titan who finally pierced the mystery—and then spurned the awards. Never has mathematics provided more fascinating human drama! Christensen, Bryce
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About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0452289645
• ISBN 13: 9780452289642
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 309