Imaginary Numbers : An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings

by Editor: William Frucht

• ISBN13: 9780471332442
• ISBN10: 0471332445
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

"With this delightful anthology, Frucht throws a bridge across the chasm separating the 'Two Cultures' of science and literature."--Booklist "A marvelous colledtion of diverse talents and writing."--San Diego Union-Tribune A wildly inventive treasury of the most artful words ever written about numbers. Mathematics and writing may seem to exist in opposite realms, but as William Frucht reveals, the world of numbers has always held a special fascination for men and women of letters. Imaginary Numbers displays the fruits of this cross-fertilization by collecting the best creative writing about mathematical topics from the past hundred years. In this engaging anthology, we can explore the many ways writers have played with mathematical ideas. Delve into the fourth dimension and infinity, into fantasy and philosophy with such masters as Lewis Carroll, Edwin Abbott Abbott, Philip K. Dick, Martin Gardner, and Alan Lightman. Revel in renowned tales by Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges, cult classics such as Connie Willis's "The Schwartzschild Radius,"and lesser-known gems by such visionaries as William Gibson and A. K. Dewdney. For mathematical mavens and literary lions alike, Imaginary Numbers adds up to one fascinating read.

Author Biography

William Frucht is a senior editor at Basic Books and the coauthor, with Larry Siever, of The New View of Self.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
The Form of Space	1	(10)
Italo Calvino
A New Golden Age	11	(10)
Rudy Rucker
A Serpent with Corners (from A Tangled Tale)	21	(6)
Lewis Carroll
A Positive Reminder	27	(2)
J. A. Lindon
How Kazir Won His Wife	29	(10)
Raymond Smullyan
11 May 1905 (from Einstein's Dreams)	39	(4)
Alan Lightman
Why Does Disorder Increase in the Same Direction of Time as That in Which the Universe Expands?	43	(2)
Roald Hoffman
The Golden Man	45	(34)
Philip K. Dick
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck	79	(32)
Hilbert Schenck
Resolution of the Paradox: A Philosophical Puppet Play	111	(2)
Abner Shimony
Parallelism	113	(2)
Piet Hein
Prelude . . . (from Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid)	115	(12)
Douglas Hofstadter
The Third Sally, or The Dragons of Probability (from The Seven Sallies of Trurl and Klapaucius)	127	(16)
Stanislaw Lem
Concerning Irregular Figures (from Flatland)	143	(6)
Edwin Abbott Abbott
The Definition of Love	149	(2)
Andrew Marvell
On Fiddib Har (from The Planiverse: Computer Contact with a Two-Dimensional World)	151	(18)
A. K. Dewdney
The Church of the Fourth Dimension	169	(12)
Martin Gardner
The Extraordinary Hotel, or the Thousand and First Journey of Ion the Quiet	181	(10)
Stanislaw Lem
Ten Weary, Footsore Travelers	191	(2)
Anonymous
From The Policeman's Beard Is Half-Constructed	193	(2)
Racter
Burning Chrome	195	(22)
William Gibson
Gonna Roll the Bones	217	(24)
Fritz Leiber
A Word on Statistics	241	(4)
Wislawa Szymborska
Giovanni and His Wife	245	(6)
Tommaso Landolfi
The Private War of Private Jacob	251	(6)
Joe Haldeman
The Library of Babel	257	(10)
Jorge Luis Borges
Enantiomorphosis (A Natural History of Mirrors)	267	(8)
Christian Bok
Schwarzschild Radius	275	(20)
Connie Willis
Letter from Caroline Herschel (1750--1848)	295	(4)
Siv Cedering
From We	299	(14)
Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Garden of Time	313	(10)
J. G. Ballard
Acknowledgments	323	(2)
Permission Acknowledgments	325