The French Mathematician: A Novel [Paperback]

Tom Petsinis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2000

While growing up in revolutionary France, Evariste Galois immersed himself in the study of mathematics, a pursuit that allowed him a welcome glimpse of order at a time when chaos consumed his country. Arrogant, ambitious, and brilliant, Galois dreamed of solving the quintic, a complex equation that had baffled many talented mathematicians before him--but after his father's mysterious death, he devoted himself to Republican politics with the same fervent energy he had applied to his mathematical studies. Rich in historical detail and bursting with intellectual passion, this captivating novel describes a genius's valiant quest for truth--in a turbulent and uncertain era that in many ways mirrors the one in which we live today.

"An engaging historical novel."-- Kirkus Reviews

"In this remarkable novel, Petsinis resurrects a young, overemotional, impetuous, and headstrong genius whose personal failures read like a Hugo novel but whose voice resonates more clearly now with the passage of time."-- Booklist

"Draws a vivid picture of post-Napoleon France....Petsinis makes mathematical passion accessible...a fine account of revolutionary France and a look into a mind that made great discoveries."-- The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The French Mathematician is a fictional memoir of Evariste Galois, the mathematical genius who made innovations in algebra before his untimely death in 1832. Galois narrates the book, describing how he sought solace in "the order and certainty of geometry" during the social and political upheaval in France at the time. The book chronicles his adolescence, his growth as a mathematician, his political awakening, and his death in a duel. Tom Petsinis teaches math at a university in Australia, and this is the first of his books to be published in the United States. The bare outline of Petsinis's book is interesting, but unfortunately The French Mathematician is somewhat overburdened with flowery language and hallucinatory dream sequences. When Galois works hard on a math problem, he tends to fall into a reverie, like this: "My heart was now beating faster than usual. No longer Evariste Galois, I am impersonal, at one with the eternal mind responsible for mathematics, impelled forward to discover the mystery at the center of the labyrinth. But just as the solution is within reach, I am distracted by the scent of chamomile." A scantily clad temptress interrupts the young genius's reverie during this hallucination and several others. Even though Galois struggles to separate himself from the distractions of the material world, a love affair ultimately brings on his demise. Evariste Galois was probably a fascinating, difficult person, but the budding mathematician Petsinis describes in this book is not a very likable or interesting character--he's a sort of humorless and bitter teen. --Jill Marquis --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

If Evariste Galois?a boy genius cut down in a romantic duel?had only been a painter, his life might have been penned by Irving Stone and played by Kirk Douglas in the movie version. But since he was a mathematician, he has had to wait 166 years, since his death in 1832, for this valiant but strained debut from Australian playwright and fellow mathematician Petsinis. We meet narrator Evariste in 1827, when he is a sullen teenager at the Louis-le-Grand school in Paris. In his first class in geometry, he experiences an almost religious vision of mathematical order and henceforth dashes his parents' hopes for a respectable career as a provincial schoolteacher. When Evariste's father, a beleaguered liberal politician and small-town mayor, commits suicide, however, Evariste turns from mathematics to revolution. Though his efforts are earnest, Petsinis never finds a style that can combine the language of mathematics and the language of passion. When, for example, Evariste receives the news of his father's death, we get this bit of misplaced erudition: "I bit my lower lip, checking the swell of emotion by bringing to mind my recent findings: The essence of an equation could be brought to light through the nature of the group formed from its coefficients." Although the world may owe a debut to Evariste Galois for his discovery of group theory, readers who make it to the end of this novel may feel they've paid more than their fair share.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (April 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425172910
• ISBN-13: 978-0425172919
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully written novel, you don't have to like math!, July 5, 2000

By 

"hollygo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The French Mathematician: A Novel (Paperback)

I would highly recommend "The French Mathematician" to fans of math, french history and even those who could care less about math.

This book follows Galois' discovery of his talents in mathematics and the conflicts in France that make him decide if he will follow his genius and study math, or join the revoultion for democracy in France.

This book is well written and is full of wonderful imagery that puts you right in revolutionary France. I would guess that most people could understand the passion for democracy that the characters in the book have, but this book also helps you understand Galois' passion for mathematics.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Teenagers are tiresome, February 16, 2000

By 

Brian Almquist "-baa-" (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The French Mathematician (Hardcover)

Petsinis takes a very interesting topic -- the short career and life of boy-genius Evariste Galois -- and surrounds it with flowery mathematical language. Probably the most interesting narrative ideas are presented in the first, er, Chapter Zero, but similar attempts later in the book are nearly incomprehensible. By then, Evariste has determined to make himself a martyr for the Revolution, a much drier concept then dying for mathematics. As his Republican comrades complain, Evariste becomes tiresome.

Nevertheless, I have picked up a couple of books on mathematical history: the politics of France at the time of Galois and the politics of academic mathematics are fascinating.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written Novel of a Grand and Tragic Life, January 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The French Mathematician: A Novel (Paperback)

I have been interested in the life of Evariste Galois for some years now so I was delighted to find this book. Galois was a brilliant French mathematician, who may or may not have suffered from some form of epilepsy or depression and who, sadly, was killed under mysterious circumstances at the young age of twenty.

Galois' life is cloaked in mystery. We do know that he dreamed of solving the quintic, a complex mathematical equation that had eluded all the best minds of his time. He was the first person to formulate the concept of a finite group theory and then to apply this theory to solve one of the major mathematical problems of his era.

Although Galois seemed to live for pure mathematics and pure mathematics alone, he mysteriously gave up his feverish study to devote most of his time to the revolution that took place in France in 1830. Why Galois, who seemingly had little interest in politics, would brandish a knife and threaten the king, in front of Alexandre Dumas, no less, forms the basis for much of this book.

In this book, we learn of a most important letter Galois wrote on the night of May 29, 1832 to his friend, Auguste Chevalier. What we don't learn about, and what has been lost to history, are Galois' other manuscripts and, most interestingly, his brief love affair with Stéphanie du Motel. We also know that Galois fully expected to die when he did, but what we don't know is why he died or why, precisely, he expected his death to come about exactly as it did.

You certainly don't have to be a mathematician to love this book. You really don't even need much of an interest in math. Galois is such a compelling character that he makes a wonderful character study no matter what he was interested in. This book, aimed at the general reader, does not dwell unnecessarily on mathematical concepts and even when it does, it does so in such a way that it only adds beauty to the narrative and depth to the character of Galois.

Petsinis seems much more interested in capturing the psychological essence of Galois than in cataloging his mathematical and political conquests and, in my opinion, he succeeds wonderfully. This is a beautiful book and one that is a joy to read. Petsinis worked a seeming miracle in weaving the actual events in the life of Galois into his fictional narrative. We are left with nothing but the belief that Petsinis' Galois is the real Galois; that these were his thoughts and his feelings and his reasons for being.

Galois struggled with his emotions for most of his twenty years and Petsinis lets us feel this struggle. For example, Galois, even though being mesmerized by the enchanting du Motel, had an intrinsic aversion to both sex and romance. He was a genius par excellence, yet he was a dreamer as well, and sometimes this dreaminess would cause him to slip from the factual world of the mathematics he loved into a horrific fantasy world of which he wanted no part.

The life of Evariste Galois makes for a very difficult character study, but Petsinis has done a marvelous job. The French Mathematician is one of the most gorgeous books I have ever read and it makes one of the world's true geniuses so much more accessible. Evariste Galois led a grand but tragic life and Petsinis captures it in all its glory in this lyrical and beautifully written book.