"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Hoffman's book, like Sylvia Nasar's biography of John Nash, A Beautiful Mind, reveals a genius's life that transcended the merely quirky. But Erdös's brand of madness was joyful, unlike Nash's despairing schizophrenia. Erdös never tried to dilute his obsessive passion for numbers with ordinary emotional interactions, thus avoiding hurting the people around him, as Nash did. Oliver Sacks writes of Erdös: "A mathematical genius of the first order, Paul Erdös was totally obsessed with his subject--he thought and wrote mathematics for nineteen hours a day until the day he died. He traveled constantly, living out of a plastic bag, and had no interest in food, sex, companionship, art--all that is usually indispensable to a human life."
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is easy to love, despite his strangeness. It's hard not to have affection for someone who referred to children as "epsilons," from the Greek letter used to represent small quantities in mathematics; a man whose epitaph for himself read, "Finally I am becoming stupider no more"; and whose only really necessary tool to do his work was a quiet and open mind. Hoffman, who followed and spoke with Erdös over the last 10 years of his life, introduces us to an undeniably odd, yet pure and joyful, man who loved numbers more than he loved God--whom he referred to as SF, for Supreme Fascist. He was often misunderstood, and he certainly annoyed people sometimes, but Paul Erdös is no doubt missed. --Therese Littleton
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. 1st Edition. Seller Inventory # ABE-1701392001015
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780786884063
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0786884061
Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth 0.59. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780786884063
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780786884063
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 282382-n
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLING22Oct2018170027898
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9780786884063
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0786884061
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0786884061xvz189zvxnew