Book Review: A Certain Ambiguity

                A Certain Ambiguity is a book written by Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Bal about the life of Ravi Kapoor as he tries to find the certainty within mathematics and philosophy as these two concepts affect all known human knowledge. The book had a very unique way of presenting mathematical concepts and how it was related to humanity’s quest for the truth by using a narrative approach making readers feel like they are actually seeing the real picture through their imagination.

                As I progressed reading the book (which took me a while) I noticed another style used to make this book a profound one,  it was able to tell two stories converging into a common point in the later part of the book. One of these stories is how Ravi gained interest in mathematics and philosophy from one of his classes in Stanford as he tries to pursue a career in economics. The other story was the story of Ravi’s grandfather who was put to jail back in his time because his grandfather believed that the certainty of mathematics can be extended to all human knowledge including religion. From these two stories we can actually see how Ravi and his grandfather tries to uncover whether there can be absolute certainty in mathematics or even life. As Ravi tries to uncover the reason behind his grandfather’s imprisonment and at the same time while attending his Infinity class, we are presented with many mathematical concepts elucidated with brilliant minds of humanity throughout history.

                What I like about the book is that, It was able to present such complex ideas at the same time retaining the human aspect of both characters. For me this was evident at the first part of the book, which is actually a flashback way back when Ravi’s grandfather is still alive. It was able to show the close ties between Ravi and his grandfather as he showed Ravi a calculator trick. The grandfather died the next day leaving Ravi with the memory of him and his grandfather together. For me that simple calculator trick seemed like a legacy Ravi’s grandfather, which is actually a mathematician as revealed later, wanted Ravi to have. However it was later revealed that Ravi didn’t had the passion to pursue mathematics unlike what his grandfather wanted him to be.

                All I can say about the book is that it was informative at the same time it was sensational to the point that it will really get you even after reading the book