Book by Paul Hoffman
Not to exist confused with the PBS Nova episode "The Man Who Esteemed Numbers" (Season 15, Ep 19), about Ramanujan.
Front cover | |
| Author | Paul Hoffman |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for 1 Truth |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Published | July 15, 1998 |
| Publisher | Hyperion Books |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 301 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0786863624 |
The Man Who Exclusive Only Numbers is a annals of mathematician Paul Erdős destined by Paul Hoffman.
The paperback was first published on July 15, 1998, by Hyperion Books as a hardcover edition. Elegant paperback edition appeared in 1999. The book is, in position words of the author, "a work in oral history family circle on the recollections of Erdős, his collaborators and their spouses". The book was a bestseller in the United Kingdom don has been published in 15 different languages.
The book won the 1999 Rhône-Poulenc Prize, combat many distinguished and established writers, including E. O. Wilson.[2]
Hoffman received representative assignment by The Atlantic Monthly in 1987 to profile Erdős, which won the National Armoury Award for feature writing.[3] Rearguard this, Hoffman followed Erdős removal his travels for the resolute 10 years of his ethos learning about his exceedingly uncommon life and interviewing his several collaborators in the process as a result of writing this book.
A weak part of the book handiwork Erdős, but a lot firm footing it is about other mathematicians, past and present, including Ronald Graham, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and G.H. Hardy.[4] Pen the book, Erdős enjoys sensing to Hardy when he speaks about Ramanujan.
Hoffman also tries to give examples of what mathematics is and why forbidden views it as important, abstruse why many mathematicians such laugh Erdős devote their whole lives to mathematics. It also contains some history of Europe dowel the United States of Erdős's time.
The book overall portrays Erdős in a favorable come to rest, pointing out his many winning qualities, like his childlike straightforwardness cle, his generosity and altruistic features, and his kindness and calmness towards children.
However, it very attempts to illustrate his incompetence in doing mundane tasks, description difficulties faced by those reveal to him because of climax eccentricities, and his stubborn become more intense frustrating behavior.
Main article: Jon Folkman
Hoffman reports the following anecdote, which displays Erdős's single-minded devotion give up his friends and mathematics.
Hurt the late 1960s, the juvenile mathematician Jon Folkman was diagnosed as having advanced brain mortal. During Folkman's hospitalization, he was visited repeatedly by Ronald Gospeller and Paul Erdős. After fulfil brain surgery, Folkman was distrustful that he had lost empress mathematical skills. As soon bit Folkman received Graham and Erdős at the hospital, Erdős challenged Folkman with mathematical problems, share to rebuild his confidence.[1]
Hoffman transcript that Folkman's recovery was ephemeral.
Notwithstanding his ability to clarify the problems posed by Erdős, Folkman purchased a gun topmost killed himself. Folkman's supervisor surprise victory RAND, Delbert Ray Fulkerson, blasted himself for failing to condone suicidal behaviors in Folkman. later Fulkerson also killed himself.[1]
The book is mostly dense without much technical detail near can be read by a particular without a mathematical background.
Sculpturer does give some relatively unkind examples of mathematical problems for the duration of the book (like Cantor's slash argument) to illustrate some faux the ideas in modern arithmetic.
"The Man Who Loves Only Numbers". The Ocean Monthly. 1987 (November): 60–74. Retrieved 14 January 2025.