15%OFF

Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.
Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity
Loren Graham
€ 46.99
€ 39.88
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity
Hardback. Takes us on a mathematical mystery tour, unraveling a tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas. This book focuses on the contest between French and Russian mathematicians who sought answers to one of the oldest puzzles in math: the nature of infinity. Num Pages: 256 pages, 34 halftones, 3 line illustrations. BIC Classification: HRLK2; PBX. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 218 x 149 x 22. Weight in Grams: 428.
In 1913, Russian imperial marines stormed an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Athos, Greece, to haul off monks engaged in a dangerously heretical practice known as Name Worshipping. Exiled to remote Russian outposts, the monks and their mystical movement went underground. Ultimately, they came across Russian intellectuals who embraced Name Worshipping - and who would achieve one of the biggest mathematical breakthroughs of the twentieth century, going beyond recent French achievements. Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor take us on an exciting mathematical mystery tour as they unravel a bizarre tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas. At the core of this book is the contest between French and Russian mathematicians who sought new answers to one of the oldest puzzles in math: the nature of infinity. The French school chased rationalist solutions. The Russian mathematicians, notably Dmitri Egorov and Nikolai Luzin - who founded the famous Moscow School of Mathematics - were inspired by mystical insights attained during Name Worshipping. Their religious practice appears to have opened to them visions into the infinite - and led to the founding of descriptive set theory. The men and women of the leading French and Russian mathematical schools are central characters in this absorbing tale that could not be told until now. Naming Infinity is a poignant human interest story that raises provocative questions about science and religion, intuition and creativity.
Product Details
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Number of pages
256
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2009
Condition
New
Weight
428g
Number of Pages
256
Place of Publication
Cambridge, Mass., United States
ISBN
9780674032934
SKU
V9780674032934
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About Loren Graham
Loren Graham is Professor of the History of Science, emeritus, at MIT. Jean-Michel Kantor is a mathematician at the Institut de Mathematiques de Jussieu in Paris.
Reviews for Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity
The intellectual drama will attract readers who are interested in mystical religion and the foundations of mathematics. The personal drama will attract readers who are interested in a human tragedy with characters who met their fates with exceptional courage. - Freeman Dyson