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

Szpiro, George G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525950249 ISBN 13: 9780525950240

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 2007

Synopsis

Traces the hundred-year effort to solve the Poincaré Conjecture and its successful solution by Grigory Perelman, an impoverished and enigmatic Russian recluse who refused all prizes and academic appointments while solving an array of history-influencing mathematical conundrums. By the author of Kepler's Conjecture.

About this title

About the Author

George G. Szpiro is a mathematician and prizewinning journalist with an M.B.A. from Stanford and a Ph.D. in mathematical economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has taught at the of PennsylvaniaÂ’s Wharton School, Hebrew University, and the of Zurich, and, along with a monthly popular math column, has published numerous articles. His previous book, KeplerÂ’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: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0525950249
• ISBN 13: 9780525950240
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320