Poincare's Prize
Author: Szpiro, George G.
ISBN: 9780452289642
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Year first published: 29 Jul 2008
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback / softback
The amazing story of one of the greatest math problems of all time and the reclusive genius who solved it
In the tradition ofFermat's EnigmaandPrime Obsession, George Szpiro brings to life the giants of mathematics who struggled to prove a theorem for a century and the mysterious man from St. Petersburg, Grigory Perelman, who fi nally accomplished the impossible. In 1904 Henri Poincare developed the Poincare Conjecture, an attempt to understand higher-dimensional space and possibly the shape of the universe. The problem was he couldn't prove it. A century later it was named a Millennium Prize problem, one of the seven hardest problems we can imagine. Now this holy grail of mathematics has been found.
Accessibly interweaving history and math, Szpiro captures the passion, frustration, and excitement of the hunt, and provides a fascinating portrait of a contemporary noble-genius.
ISBN: 9780452289642
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Year first published: 29 Jul 2008
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback / softback
The amazing story of one of the greatest math problems of all time and the reclusive genius who solved it
In the tradition ofFermat's EnigmaandPrime Obsession, George Szpiro brings to life the giants of mathematics who struggled to prove a theorem for a century and the mysterious man from St. Petersburg, Grigory Perelman, who fi nally accomplished the impossible. In 1904 Henri Poincare developed the Poincare Conjecture, an attempt to understand higher-dimensional space and possibly the shape of the universe. The problem was he couldn't prove it. A century later it was named a Millennium Prize problem, one of the seven hardest problems we can imagine. Now this holy grail of mathematics has been found.
Accessibly interweaving history and math, Szpiro captures the passion, frustration, and excitement of the hunt, and provides a fascinating portrait of a contemporary noble-genius.
