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The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth Hardcover – July 15, 1998
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Paul Erdos was an amazing and prolific mathematician whose life as a world-wandering numerical nomad was legendary. He published almost 1500 scholarly papers before his death in 1996, and he probably thought more about math problems than anyone in history. Like a traveling salesman offering his thoughts as wares, Erdos would show up on the doorstep of one mathematician or another and announce, "My brain is open." After working through a problem, he'd move on to the next place, the next solution.
Hoffman's book, like Sylvia Nasar's biography of John Nash, A Beautiful Mind, reveals a genius's life that transcended the merely quirky. But Erdos's brand of madness was joyful, unlike Nash's despairing schizophrenia. Erdos never tried to dilute his obsessive passion for numbers with ordinary emotional interactions, thus avoiding hurting the people around him, as Nash did. Oliver Sacks writes of Erdos: "A mathematical genius of the first order, Paul Erdos was totally obsessed with his subject--he thought and wrote mathematics for nineteen hours a day until the day he died. He traveled constantly, living out of a plastic bag, and had no interest in food, sex, companionship, art--all that is usually indispensable to a human life."
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is easy to love, despite his strangeness. It's hard not to have affection for someone who referred to children as "epsilons," from the Greek letter used to represent small quantities in mathematics; a man whose epitaph for himself read, "Finally I am becoming stupider no more"; and whose only really necessary tool to do his work was a quiet and open mind.
Hoffman, who followed and spoke with Erdos over the last 10 years of his life, introduces us to an undeniably odd, yet pure and joyful, man who loved numbers more than he loved God--whom he referred to as SF, for Supreme Fascist. He was often misunderstood, and he certainly annoyed people sometimes, but Paul Erdos is no doubt missed. --Therese Littleton
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHachette Books
- Publication dateJuly 15, 1998
- Grade level8 and up
- Reading age13 years and up
- Dimensions5.5 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100786863625
- ISBN-13978-0786863624
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Hoffman's book, like Sylvia Nasar's biography of John Nash, A Beautiful Mind, reveals a genius's life that transcended the merely quirky. But Erdös's brand of madness was joyful, unlike Nash's despairing schizophrenia. Erdös never tried to dilute his obsessive passion for numbers with ordinary emotional interactions, thus avoiding hurting the people around him, as Nash did. Oliver Sacks writes of Erdös: "A mathematical genius of the first order, Paul Erdös was totally obsessed with his subject--he thought and wrote mathematics for nineteen hours a day until the day he died. He traveled constantly, living out of a plastic bag, and had no interest in food, sex, companionship, art--all that is usually indispensable to a human life."
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is easy to love, despite his strangeness. It's hard not to have affection for someone who referred to children as "epsilons," from the Greek letter used to represent small quantities in mathematics; a man whose epitaph for himself read, "Finally I am becoming stupider no more"; and whose only really necessary tool to do his work was a quiet and open mind. Hoffman, who followed and spoke with Erdös over the last 10 years of his life, introduces us to an undeniably odd, yet pure and joyful, man who loved numbers more than he loved God--whom he referred to as SF, for Supreme Fascist. He was often misunderstood, and he certainly annoyed people sometimes, but Paul Erdös is no doubt missed. --Therese Littleton
From Scientific American
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"One of the most captivating books I have read in years...a completely absorbing, fast-paced memoir."―Kay Redfield Jamison, The Washington Post
"An affectionate if impressionistic portrayal of one of the century's greatest and strangest mathematicians....Though a biography, this book works like the best fiction, finding in a concrete universal to show what mathematics is and who the people are who uncover its truths.."―Kirkus Reviews
"This book opens doors on a world and characters that are often invisible."―The New York Times Book Review, James Alexander
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Product details
- Publisher : Hachette Books; First Edition (July 15, 1998)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0786863625
- ISBN-13 : 978-0786863624
- Reading age : 13 years and up
- Grade level : 8 and up
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #382,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #239 in Mathematics History
- #798 in Scientist Biographies
- #1,191 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
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Speaking as a former college "Mathlete" (Kappa Mu Epsilon), I used to (and still do) have an abiding love for mathematical 'truths', and this book gives readers a brief introduction to some of the many ways that a sense of wonder & curiosity, focused on the universe through the prism of mathematics, can fire one's soul on many levels, both intellectual and spiritual.
As for myself - after a promising start, I peaked early back in undergrad school, and eventually left the field after finishing a minor degree, and moved on to other studies. However, my sense of wonder has remained ... and it was this book that helped me to recall some of my old joys, and to relive some of the might-have beens, had I been able to stay with it.
In any case, the book is a fine read. However, I have some nits that I've ranked them from most to least annoying:
1) MISSING PROOFS: The author, during his tale, mentions in passing many interesting mathematical problems and theorems that both Paul Erdos, and other mathematicians, helped to solve ... but in the vast majority of instances, the author anti-climactically fails to include the details of those proofs for the benefit of interested & proficient readers. IMHO, proofs of less than, say, 5 pages, could and should have been included in an appendix, and the author could have referred readers to appropriate AMS publications for those proofs that are longer and more involved. Instead, the author leaves the reader with nadda in all but a few trivial instances. It always irks me off when an author (or editor) dumbs down a book because they think readers can't keep up. Very annoying, and very anti-climactic. I mean come on - what's the point of spending pages and pages telling about the quest for a solution, only to finish lamely that yes, they solved it ... but omit all the details. Feh.
2) FOCUS: The author did a commendable job assembling and integrating a large array of verbal and historical accounts into a fairly coherent whole ... but he also has a mildly irritating tendency to meander around, in his focus, somewhat like a runaway horse cart. First forwards in time, then backwards, then sideways across various topics, then in the middle of nowhere we're talking about Fibonacci, Gödel, Gauss, then back to the present, and then to his childhood again, etc. In other words, the flow of the book is a bit uneven and fractured in places, and IMHO it could have benefited from some additional polishing and a bit of re-organization. I kept wanting to grab the reins and drag the book back on course. It's a fine ride, but it's a bit more rickety and bouncy then it could have been with some better editing.
3) ENDMATTER: The author/editor neglected to tie the "Acknowledgements and Source Notes" section in the rear of the book (p. 269- p.278) into the main text with some helpful endnotes or annotations ... thus rendering the section mostly useless to first time readers. Without notations to clue a reader in that that information is present in the back, then readers are left to finish the book unaware of it's existence until they reach the end ... by which time the information is of little or no value.
Highly enjoyable. Subtract a star if you're a math geek who prefers to see actual proofs, rather than simply taking solutions for granted, sans details.
Although I am not a mathematician, I had no trouble following all the analytics throughout the book. Kudos to the author who writes in lucid and clear terms.
Humanity needs people like Paul Erdos.
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Amazon is slowly destroying publishing houses and I have to stop ordering my books from here.
And this printed paper is so good!







