Customer Reviews

The Shape of Content: An Anthology of Creative Writing in Mathematics and Science

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Over a few recent days I've been sampling from THE SHAPE OF CONTENT and it has supplied ongoing delight. I began with the collection's poetry and with names familiar to me--Robin Chapman, Chandler Davis, and Emily Grosholz. Liking what I found I went further and found Adam Dickinson and others. Turning to longer pieces, I met Eric Neville through the well-written prose of Marjorie Senechal. I was drawn in by the mathematical fiction of Manil Suri and Alex Kasman. And there is more, much more. For all readers who have connections to mathematics, this collection of creative work is a treasure to be oft-visited and enjoyed.

This is not a book about teaching creative writing in mathematics and science nor is it a book about the role creative writing has in math and science. It is instead a collection of short works that have at least some of their content based in math and science. Some are stories, two are nonfiction, many are works of prose and two are segments of plays.
When comparing the contents of this book to other imaginative works such as those collected by people like Clifton Fadiman, I found some of them uninspiring and often lacking in mathematical or scientific substance. In my opinion, using the terms math and science to describe works of creative writing means that there is a heavy dose of the topics; mere mention of some scientific terms in the work is not enough. This criticism done, there were a few that I considered first-rate.

Published in "Journal of Recreational Mathematics" reprinted with permission.