
Math in Fiction – over 1000 short stories involving math or mathematicians - ColinWright
http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/
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edanm
Looks like I have reading material for the next few years :|

More seriously: From glancing at the recommended list (bottom of the linked
page), a few books I heartily recommend: "Uncle Petros and Goldbach's
Conjecture", "Logicomix", and of course: "Godel Escher Bach".

I would love a list of books that are actual Math books, but for a popular
audience. I'm not talking about something like "Fermat's Last Theorem", as it
does not actually teach real math.

My best example of such a book is "Journey Through Genius", which is an
amazing book - a look at 10 great mathematical theorems, from explaining the
basic theory behind them, on through their history, and ending with a full
proof of the theory itself. This is how textbooks _should_ be written, if our
goal is for people to enjoy mathematics - explaining _why_ mathematicians came
up with the theorems they did, including the always-interesting human angle of
the history. But still keeping full mathematical rigour.

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bgilroy26
Have you ever checked out any of Paul Nahin's books? You might like those.

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alok-g
Any specific one you would recommend?

Most of the ones below seem somewhat too basic for me.

<http://www.amazon.com/Paul-J.-Nahin/e/B001HCS1XI/>

~~~
bgilroy26
I read An Imaginary Tale and liked it. That being said, I have more enthusiasm
than ability when it comes to maths. You might very well be beyond these
books.

In university libraries you can sort of pick out narrative/casual books in the
math section by working off of the form factor. If you pull out books with a
novel-like size and shape and read the backs you might find ones that are the
right mix for you.

One last clue is that publishing houses like Springer will put out series of
more narrative or casual works from time to time. Best of luck!

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karterk
I loved reading "The Secret Number" by Igor Teper:

[http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.s...](http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001120/secret_number.shtml)

It has been submitted to HN a few times too.

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mikecane
Thank you!!! "Ms Fnd in a Lbry" was a story someone gave me to read in 1981
and I lost my copy, forgot the title, forgot the writer, and have been
lamenting not being able to re-read it since. Your list reconnected me with
it!

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girvo
Hari Seldon from Asimov's "Foundation" series is my absolute favourite
fictional mathematician, and I'm glad to see its in the recommended list!
Brilliant database, I'm sure to find some new reading material here.

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dandrews
Not just short stories - Carl Sagan's _Contact_ is there. The book had a
terrific payoff idea that the movie didn't acknowledge at all, so if you've
only seen the movie then you've missed the important stuff. (Avoid the
synopsis at kasmana.people.cofc.edu if you have a low tolerance for spoilers.)

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pavelpadovan
The Faraway: A longer short story, perhaps more focussed on theoretical
physics than math (but physics is sexy too).

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Faraway-Chance-Rain-
ebook/dp/B00AF...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Faraway-Chance-Rain-
ebook/dp/B00AFCC78G)

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krutulis
This looks like a wonderful resuorce! I checked the database for _The Number
Devil_ [1], one of my favorite math books for middle school age (and anyone
who is delighted by imaginative presentations of math!). Sure enough, it's
there, highly rated, and the comments from teachers and students are a
delight.

[1]:
[http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumbe...](http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumber=mf20)

