The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth Paperback – May 12, 1999

I bought this book for my daughter - a math major. I decided to read it so I would understand her passion for mathematics. I admit that I had to skim over some of the actual math (not my strong suit) but I wasn't reading it to learn higher math. I wanted the essence, motivation, devotion, and passion that attracts people to mathematics and I was not disappointed. The author, Paul Hoffman, did not write a chronological story of the life of Paul Erdos, which may have made a logical but somewhat dry account of a fascinating and strange man. Instead, Hoffman kept me wondering what would be revealed next. I laughed in parts and wanted to cry at the passing of Erdos, a man who touched the lives of many. I feel honored to have caught a glimmer of his extraordinary, crazy life and better understand my daughter's passion.

The book is written very well and depicts one of the greatest mathematicians fairly well. It is written for a broad audience so no previous mathematical knowledge is required to understand it, though if you are a mathematician, or are interested in it, probably would not be able to put the book down till you reach the last page. Incredibly easy and fast to read.

Besides being a mathematical genius, Erdosh was a very unique person, who had his very outstanding ways of approaching life. One would find his habits very interesting and the way he treats the money, unbelievably weird. Call it bravery or carelessness, he travelled from the US to Australia, UK, Hungary and so on with no money, no credit cards, nothing at all but his bag and his mind. He is the person who most likely published the most amount of joint papers with other mathematicians. Thats where Erdosh's number came from. (Will not spoil this part for the reader.) He invented his own terminology and his jokes would be understandable only to ones who would become familiar with it. Feels like I will never get tired talking or writing about him.

This book is a must read. This particular publication I find great! Some additional pictured and letters are included. Definitely recommend to everyone!

Every field has its share of eccentric geniuses. But I think it is fair to say that Paul Erdos was in a class by himself. Never has there been one like him, and no one on the horizon comes close to him. A mathematical prodigy, he spent his entire life doing nothing but mathematics, morning, noon and night, at a pace that humbled even his most frenetic (and much younger) followers. He had no romantic interests, no home, no car, no worldly possessions worthy of the name, and donated all his meager earnings to people and causes. He traveled the world incessantly with two old suitcases, seeding creative ideas left and right, leaving the task of writing things up to eager collaborators, not caring who got the credit as long as the work got done. As a result, he co-authored more papers than any other mathematician in history. He particularly encouraged children (or "epsilons", as he called them) to pursue math. He let others take care of him in all details, staying with them and engaging them in cutting-edge mathematical conversation without pause. He was funny in an irreverent sort of way. He was a people man: He needed to engage people all the time. Consider just this story: He went to a party where a lot of mathematicians were eager to meet him and talk to him, but upon learning there was an old blind grandfather upstairs, he went up and spent the entire evening alone with him. He may not have been religious, but Jewish values shine throughout his life. Hoffman did a good job introducing his readers to such a unique individual.

This is a very interesting and enjoyable book about Paul Erdos, an eccentric math genius.

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.