Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A Certain Ambiguity

3rd Book Review

            The novel captivates us with its inspiring plot. This is also a book, a book of mathematics in which discusses and present how the beauty of mathematics became relevance in understanding the surrounding world. In every page, mathematicians or mathematics are mentioned. It is a fiction, a novel, a romance that are all wrap up to give precision of mathematics
         The story circles the life of a young man named Ravi Kapoor. His life began with a wistful recurrence experienced to the time that his mathematician grandfather gave him a math problem. His grandfather died on the next day but he is left with the realization of the importance his father left in his life. Due to the fact that he grew with the absence of his grandfather, he became unresponsive to mathematics.
            Ravi was accepted to Stanford University and motivated towards a career of economics. While taking his course, he keep on thinking about Infinity and his professor Nico, who incidentally specializes the field of his grandfather, became his friend. Nico found a paper where his grandfather perceive his ideas while he is in New Jersey jail. Nico discusses his lectures about prominent role of infinity. On the other hand, Ravi was working and made research into his grandfather imprisonment that produces transcript about the philosophical talk on the truth. His father was sent on jail under blasphemy law.
            The book tackles about the theorems of Paul Cohen’s Consistency and enigmas and infinitude of primes of Zeno. It also discusses about the axiomatic method, Euclid’s axioms, and also the existence of non-Euclidean Geometry.
            The scope of the discussion eased through this book, but the author skilfully present additional viewpoints by the present mathematical community. There were so much in this book like philosophy, mathematics, and etc. The authors well present the mathematics organizingly though they only got excerpts from Ravi’s grandfather’s diary and discusses great mathematicians and scientist. The rest of the book is more on fiction but the authors where successfully present it in mathematical way.

            The book is very informative though I haven’t finished reading it. We learned that despite Ravi became unresponsive to mathematics but he eventually preferred the career in mathematics over economics. The book shows the evolving romance between Ravi and Claire. Over all, this is also a recommendable to read.

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