The Two-Body Problem [Revised] - Softcover

Thomas Farber; Edward Frenkel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982012527 ISBN 13: 9780982012529

Publisher: Andrea Young Arts, 2010

Synopsis

In mathematics, a two-body problem is about the trajectories of two objects interacting only with each other (a star and a planet, for example). This kind of problem has a simple mathematical solution. Not so for two human bodies, however (two lovers, or two friends) as we learn from this story about the limits of art or math, those realms of perfection.

In a beach town in the South of France, a writer and a mathematician happen to meet, start trading stories about bachelor life, relationships, loves lost. Encountering several young women as the day passes, they banter with them about art and mathematics, playfully, passionately, seductively. The two men also begin to see both what bonds them and the ways in which they may greatly differ. That evening, the two men and the women met earlier are partying when a surprising guest shows up, and tensions apparent earlier reach an unexpected conclusion.

The Two-Body Problem evokes the male adventurers of Sideways and Swingers; the mathematical allegories of Good Will Hunting, A Beautiful Mind, and the TV show Numb3rs; and the intricate plotting of Swimming Pool.

About this title

About the Author

Awarded Guggenheim and, three times, National Endowment fellowships for fiction and creative nonfiction, Thomas Farber has been a Fulbright Scholar, recipient of the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize, and Rockefeller Foundation scholar at Bellagio. His recent books include Brief Nudity, The Beholder, and Hesitation Marks. Former Visiting Distinguished Writer at the University of Hawai'i, he teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, and is Publisher/Editor in Chief of El Leon Literary Arts. Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Edward Frenkel is the author of two books, including Langlands Correspondence for Loop Groups, and numerous research articles in mathematical journals. Recipient of the Hermann Weyl Prize, the Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, and Chaire d Excellence from Fondation Sciences Mathematiques de Paris, he also co-produced, co-directed, and played the lead in the film Rites of Love and Math.

Edition details

• Publisher: Andrea Young Arts
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0982012527
• ISBN 13: 9780982012529
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 126