Tells the story behind one of the world's most confounding mathemarical theories.
Here, Donal O'Shea explains the maths behind the conjecture and its proof, and illuminates the curious personalities surrounding this perplexing conundrum, along the way taking in a grand sweep of scientific history from the Ancient Greeks to Christopher Columbus. This is an enthralling tale of human endeavour, intellectual brilliance and the thrill of discovery.
Donal O'Shea is professor of mathematics and dean of faculty at Mount Holyoke College. He has written scholarly books and monographs, and his research articles have appeared in numerous journals and collections. He lives in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
A truly marvellous book Martin Gardner Intriguing The Times Beautifully written American Scientist Reveals the human story behind the challenge of the conjecture, and gives us a glimpse of the weird world inhabited by mathematicians BBC Focus Conveys topology's mind-bending contortions with great flair New Scientist One can't read The Poincare Conjecture without an overwhelming awe at the infinite depths and richness of a mathematical realm not made by us Martin Gardner, author of The Annotated Alice