Is God a Mathematician? [Hardcover]

Mario Livio (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title of astrophysicist Livio's latest wide-ranging science survey is a teaser since God rarely makes an appearance; along with the French astronomer Laplace, Livio has no need of that hypothesis. Rather, Livio (The Golden Ratio) is concerned with the contentious question: is mathematics a human invention? Or is it the intricate design of the universe that we are slowly discovering? Scientists in past centuries have argued for the latter, Platonist position. In the last 50 years, however, many scientists, calling into question the whole idea of scientific discovery, maintain that we have invented mathematics. Livio gives as one example the famous golden ratio, which has fascinated Western mathematicians for millennia and was originally emphasized for its mystical symbolism. But Chinese mathematicians, not sharing that outlook, didn't discover it—or maybe they just didn't need to invent it. Livio hedges his bets, unsatisfyingly arguing that mathematics is partly discovered and partly invented. But Livio is a smooth writer. His fans will enjoy this book, and new ones may discover him. B&w illus. (Jan. 6)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Four centuries after church inquisitors accused Galileo of dangerous skepticism, a modern astrophysicist hails the Italian scientist as the embodiment of bold faith: namely, faith that God himself inscribed the heavens in mathematics. Because mathematics now empowers research communities investigating everything from deep-space pulsars to genetic proteins, a secularized version of Galileo’s credo now defines the new orthodoxy of science. But Livio recognizes a profound mystery inherent in the formulas his colleagues employ so sedulously: Why does the universe harmonize so well with numbers accessible to human minds? Probing this mystery, Livio traces the evolution of mathematical reasoning from the ritual symbolism of the ancient Pythagoreans to the multilayered analyses of twenty-first-century string theorists. In the impressive parade of intellectual explorers, we encounter Archimedes pondering geometrical figures at the very moment of his death, Descartes overthrowing all of medieval philosophy with one audacious thought, and Gödel quashing the ambitions of system-building logicians. This wide-ranging inquiry, however, ultimately highlights far more than personalities. A sharp conflict emerges between platonically minded philosophers who view mathematical breakthroughs as transcendent discoveries and psychologically inclined thinkers who interpret these breakthroughs as merely human inventions. Testing the tensions between these views, Livio delivers an exhilarating foray into the founding premises of mathematical science. --Bryce Christensen

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074329405X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294058
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #93,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars answers or questions?, January 10, 2009

By	Hampton Childress (Towson, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Is God a Mathematician? (Hardcover)

The specific question posed in the title doesn't actually get answered (at least not directly by God). In fact, it gets illuminated, and in the most entertaining and probing ways. Dr. Livio weaves together science, history, and philosophy breathing life into some of the most famous thinkers and thinking about mathematics' extraordinary utility in describing our physical world. He explains these sometimes contrary perspectives so clearly and concisely you feel you could almost write a layman's treatise yourself. Were he a teacher at my high school or university he would have been my favorite, leaving me with not only profound understandings but, perhaps moreso, with profound questions.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Livio has done it again, January 7, 2009

By	A reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Is God a Mathematician? (Hardcover)

After his fabulous "The Golden Ratio," Livio now tackles the question of the "unreasonable effectiveness" of mathematics in explaining the world. Mixing philosophy, mathematics, and the sciences, he creates an intellectual tension that reads almost like a mystery novel. I liked in particular the chapter on the ideas of Archimedes and Galileo, and the chapter on logic, which was challenging but fascinating.

34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an absolutely MUST HAVE book from a great scientist!, January 9, 2009

By	E. Cosla (Utrecht, Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Is God a Mathematician? (Hardcover)

Anyone interested in mathematics, philosophy, or science, will love this book.
Even though I always knew that all the fundamental theories of the universe are based on mathematics, it somehow never occurred to me to ask: What is it that makes mathematics so powerful?
Livio explains why the question is even more important than the answer.
What makes this book quite unique is the fact that it is not so much a history of mathematics, as it is a history of ideas on mathematics.