Imaginary Numbers: An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings [Hardcover]

William Frucht (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471332445 | ISBN-13: 978-0471332442 | Publication Date: September 28, 1999 | Edition: 1

"With this delightful anthology, Frucht throws a bridge across the chasm separating the 'Two Cultures' of science and literature."--Booklist

"A marvelous colledtion of diverse talents and writing."--San Diego Union-Tribune

A wildly inventive treasury of the most artful words ever written about numbers. Mathematics and writing may seem to exist in opposite realms, but as William Frucht reveals, the world of numbers has always held a special fascination for men and women of letters. Imaginary Numbers displays the fruits of this cross-fertilization by collecting the best creative writing about mathematical topics from the past hundred years. In this engaging anthology, we can explore the many ways writers have played with mathematical ideas. Delve into the fourth dimension and infinity, into fantasy and philosophy with such masters as Lewis Carroll, Edwin Abbott Abbott, Philip K. Dick, Martin Gardner, and Alan Lightman. Revel in renowned tales by Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges, cult classics such as Connie Willis's "The Schwartzschild Radius,"and lesser-known gems by such visionaries as William Gibson and A. K. Dewdney. For mathematical mavens and literary lions alike, Imaginary Numbers adds up to one fascinating read.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Don't be fooled by the title of Imaginary Numbers. Editor William Frucht hasn't devoted a book to explicating the many mysteries of the square root of minus one. What he has done is far more impressive. Pursuing what he envisions as "a truly literary science fiction," Frucht has dared to collect an idiosyncratic company of writers--including such disparate names as Rudy Rucker, Italo Calvino, William Gibson, and Lewis Carroll--into one eclectic, accomplished anthology. The unifying theme of these writings, the short stories, essays, out-loud ponderings, even poetry, is the world of mathematics: every contributor is either "using mathematics to tell stories or using stories to explain mathematics," what Frucht describes as two sides of the same coin.

What Einstein's Dreams did for time, Imaginary Numbers does for mathematics, posing a meditation that manages to be thought provoking, intellectually rigorous, and simply delightful all at the same time. (In fact, an excerpt from Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams appears in the collection.) Some of the titles might be familiar--like Gibson's "Burning Chrome" or Jorge Luis Borges's "Library of Babel"--but the breadth of Frucht's selections ensures that you'll find more than a few undiscovered gems within. --Paul Hughes

From Booklist

With this delightful anthology, Frucht throws a bridge across the chasm separating the "Two Cultures" of science and literature. Such a bridge allows readers to leave behind the tedious arithmetic of textbooks and to discover the imaginative wonderland in which Andrew Marvell contemplates parallel lines as he defines the metaphysics of love, Lewis Carroll pushes a simple cylinder into water to entangle the unwary in a paradox, and Jorge Luis Borges plots out the geometry of the labyrinth to initiate readers into the mystery of infinity. Frucht has marshaled a small army of writers (31), all with the power to breathe life into numbers and figures, so endowing the astral formulas for black holes and the binary logic of computers with a numinous brilliance. These writers of fiction and poetry fuse the scientific and artistic methods for probing truth, kindling the hope Frucht expresses in his preface for a truly "literary science fiction." Those who share his hope will here find rich nourishment for both the analytic intellect and the creative spirit. Bryce Christensen

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471332445
• ISBN-13: 978-0471332442
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,651,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mathematics in unusual places, September 30, 2000

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Imaginary Numbers: An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings (Hardcover)

Mathematics can be a part of fiction in many ways, and this collection has some of the most unusual that I have ever read. However, it is unusual in the delightful rather than distasteful sense. As a fan of science fiction, I have always found the inclusion of mathematics in fiction to be some of the best written of all the stories I have read. I found these stories, all previously published, to be entertaining and often very subtle in the points that were made.
Some of the stories are classics. There is an excerpt from Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott, what I believe to be the best piece of mathematical fiction ever written and a piece by Martin Gardner, the best mathematical populist that has ever lived. Stanislaw Lem's story about the hotel with a countably infinite number of rooms is one of the best expositions of the apparent paradoxes of the countably infinite set that has ever been created. It could be used as a textbook example to explain this often difficult point.
If you like fiction with a point to make based on applications of some serious science, then you will find these stories well worth reading.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dash of elegance science fictions, April 17, 2000

By 

Dian Wahyu (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imaginary Numbers: An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings (Hardcover)

This book is a good starting point for the journey to the 'dark' science-philosophical-fiction reading. Featuring from Lewis Carroll's work to Italo Calvino, it provides a wide range of mathematical-fiction and poetry collection (ie. how love can be so similar to parallel lines). A definite must, especially for mathematician!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Anthology Lovers, March 15, 2001

By 

"croix19" (Brunswick, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imaginary Numbers: An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings (Hardcover)

This book is undoubtedly "An Anthology of Marvelous Mathematical Stories, Diversions, Poems, and Musings." This collection of works spans a broad field of all types of literary genres: from fantacy to philosophy, from sci-fi to logic, from wonderfully outrageous to profoundly simple. Anyone with a taste for short stories and poetry will be able to appreciate the thought-provoking material presented in this anthology. For instance, one can learn what life would be like in a two-dimentional universe. Or one can travel to a land where improbable dragons become probable and pop into existance out of thin air. And one can ponder the similarities between love and parallel lines. I found this book to be at times funny and also serious. It has something for everyone. Enjoy.