It is wonderful to read a truly expository book about mathematics that actually says something meaningful and allows a non-specialist to gain an appreciation for the beauty and power of the field.

$love and math by edward frenkel$

Perhaps this is a skill developed from his years working on the Langlands program in collaboration with physicists. Including these personal details helps to motivate the future results he discusses.įrenkel seems to be highly skilled at explaining deep mathematical concepts without the need of a broad mathematical background. Frenkel brings this feeling to life in his story. In the account of the moment when Frenkel told his advisor that he had proved his first theorem he writes “I solved the problem! I couldn’t contain my excitement…” The feeling of success that a mathematician gets when they finally figure out the solution to the puzzle might help to explain why mathematicians dedicate their lives to their field. Many non-mathematicians might not understand how one discovers a new theorem in mathematics nor the type of work that leads to this accomplishment.

He tells about his “opportunity of a lifetime,” which brought him to Harvard University, where he earned his PhD and became the mathematician he is today.įrenkel gives the reader unusual insight into the life of a mathematician. Frenkel incorporates much of his life story, including details about the Russian anti-Semitism that prevented him from being accepted into the prestigious Department of Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State University. Frenkel must introduce and discuss concepts that are typically covered in advanced undergraduate and graduate math classes. One goal of this book is to describe, in a nontechnical way, how the Langlands program is the “Rosetta Stone” connecting the fields of number theory, finite fields, Riemann surfaces and Quantum Physics. If you think math is hard, that you won’t get it, if you are terrified by math, but at the same time curious whether there is something there worth knowing - then this book is for you.” Love and Math contains a nice mixture of storytelling and expository description of mathematics. I wrote it for readers without any background in mathematics. Edward Frenkel writes “This book is an invitation to a rich and dazzling world.

Love and math by edward frenkel