Book Review: A Certain Ambiguity

The story commenced with a nostalgic flashback experienced by the main character, Ravi Kapoor, to the time his mathematician grandfather gave him a math problem to try on a calculator. The manner in which the problem was given suggests gentleness in the grandfather's relationship with his grandson and appreciation of the magical effect a solution might have on the boy. The grandfather died the next day, but the reader is left with the realization of the importance the memory of the grandfather played in Ravi's life. It is noteworthy that in the absence of the grandfather's wise guidance the boy grows indifferent to mathematics.

Next, Ravi is accepted to Stanford and is inclined towards a career in economics. In due time, Ravi takes a course "Thinking about Infinity" and befriends the course professor Nico, who incidentally specializes in the field of Ravi's grandfather. Nico finds a paper with a footnote to the effect that the grandfather conceived the main ideas developed in the paper while in a New Jersey jail. At this point the narrative proceeds in two intertwining threads. On one hand, Nico's lectures present math topics where infinity plays a prominent role. On the other, Ravi's research into his grandfather's imprisonment produces transcripts of philosophical discussions on the nature of truth, certainty and mathematics that the grandfather conducted in jail with a judge assigned to investigate his case. The grandfather had landed in jail under a blasphemy law. 

The math topics discussed in the book range from Zeno's paradoxes and infinitude of primes through Godel's Incompleteness and Paul Cohen's Consistency theorems. Both authors have master's degrees in mathematics and write about the subject confidently and competently.

Good stories need rich characters that we care about, not mathematical theorems, however fascinating. So a work of fiction subtitled  a mathematical novel makes you fear that it may only expose the tremendous difficulty of blending science and logic with the emotion and dramatic tension required of good literature. Fortunately, in this case that fear is misplaced, because the book succeeds both as a compelling novel and as an intellectual tour through some startling mathematical ideas