Friday, January 31, 2014

A Certain Ambiguity -- Book Review



When I saw the subtitle which is “A Mathematical Novel”, I wanted to close the book.  But it sounded interesting so I read it.

The novel is good since fiction was incorporated with mathematics. Mathematics was all about truth, accuracy and proof but the novel was able to incorporate fiction in it. It can be read by the general public since it is easily comprehensible.

The story has a very good plot. Students would love to read it since a dramatic story about the grandfather and his son is there.  I thought it would be hard to incorporate mathematics and all these mathematical ideas in the story. But the authors were able to blend the mathematical ideas with the dramatic tension which makes it really good.

The novel takes you back in time where mathematics was being established and evolving. The novel discussed about infinity, set theory, Euclidean and non-Euclidian geometry.

I like the character Nico who is a professor of mathematics because he is a very motivating teacher. He encourages his students to be able to have a deeper understanding of his subject. He also knows how mathematicians mind work.

All in all, the book is highly recommended. Even if you are mathematically illiterate, you could understand the book and you could actually learn something from it. For me, it made me think about the philosophical insinuation of the basic math axioms. I was fascinated by the journey of the young man, Ravi. While the story isn’t really believable, it is fun to read and educational at the same time.

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