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Mathematical Lives

Protagonists of the Twentieth Century From Hilbert to Wiles

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Editors:
  1. Claudio Bartocci

    1. Dipto. Matematica, Università Genova, Genova, Italy

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  2. Renato Betti

    1. Dipto. Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

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  3. Angelo Guerraggio

    1. Centro PRISTEM, Università Bocconi, Milano, Italy

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  4. Roberto Lucchetti

    1. , Dipto. Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

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  • Lives of mathematicians allow us to glimpse not only the creative process at work in science, but to see how their lives were affected by the turmoil of the century in which they lived and worked

  • Excerpts from literary works make evident how pervasive mathematics is in culture as a whole

  • Contributions from leading mathematicians in Italy today help put recent developments in historical perspective

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (35 chapters)

  1. John F. Nash Jr.

    • Roberto Lucchetti
    Pages 137-146

  2. Ennio De Giorgi

    • Gianni Dal Maso
    Pages 147-155

  3. Laurent Schwartz

    • Angelo Guerraggio
    Pages 157-164

  4. René Thom

    • Renato Betti
    Pages 165-167

  5. J.L. Borges, The Dream (El sueño)

    • Claudio Bartocci, Renato Betti, Angelo Guerraggio, Roberto Lucchetti
    Pages 169-169

  6. Alexander Grothendieck: Enthusiasm and Creativity

    • Luca Barbieri Viale
    Pages 171-180

  7. Gian-Carlo Rota

    • Domenico Senato
    Pages 181-189

  8. Stephen Smale

    • Angelo Guerraggio
    Pages 191-196

  9. Michael F. Atiyah

    • Claudio Bartocci
    Pages 197-208

  10. Vladimir Igorevich Arnold

    • Marco Pedroni
    Pages 209-211

  11. Enrico Bombieri

    • Claudio Bartocci, Renato Betti, Angelo Guerraggio, Roberto Lucchetti
    Pages 213-215

  12. Martin Gardner

    • Ennio Peres
    Pages 217-220

  13. Le Corbusier’s Door of Miracles

    • Claudio Bartocci, Renato Betti, Angelo Guerraggio, Roberto Lucchetti
    Pages 221-222

  14. F. William Lawvere

    • Renato Betti
    Pages 223-230

  15. Andrew Wiles

    • Claudio Bartocci
    Pages 231-235

  16. Mathematical Prizes

    • Claudio Bartocci, Renato Betti, Angelo Guerraggio, Roberto Lucchetti
    Pages 237-238
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Keywords

About this book

Steps forward in mathematics often reverberate in other scientific disciplines, and give rise to innovative conceptual developments or find surprising technological applications. This volume brings to the forefront some of the proponents of the mathematics of the twentieth century, who have put at our disposal new and powerful instruments for investigating the reality around us. The portraits present people who have impressive charisma and wide-ranging cultural interests, who are passionate about defending the importance of their own research, are sensitive to beauty, and attentive to the social and political problems of their times. What we have sought to document is mathematics’ central position in the culture of our day. Space has been made not only for the great mathematicians but also for literary texts, including contributions by two apparent interlopers, Robert Musil and Raymond Queneau, for whom mathematical concepts represented a valuable tool for resolving the struggle between ‘soul and precision.’

Reviews

From the reviews:

“To attract new blood, mathematics must have a human face. … Thus, one welcomes a book on Bell’s model for the 20th century. … Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.” (D. V. Feldman, Choice, Vol. 48 (9), May, 2011)

“This is a highly recommendable reading for mathematicians … . Being a collection of independent chapters, the reader can proceed by browsing through the sections guided by the contents table. … the reader can pick the book as a novel and read it from first page to last. This is relevant, because the organization and ordering of the chapters contribute to the overall effect by combining in different doses mathematics and life … . This is a book to read and enjoy … .” (Jesus M. Ruiz, The European Mathematical Society, August, 2011)

“This translation of a 2007 Italian collection has very interesting writeups about Michael Atiyah, N. Bourbaki, E. De Giorgi, A. N. Kolmogorov, John Nash, Laurent Schwartz, Gian-Carlo Rota, and Stephen Smale, among others. … its descriptions of Italian mathematics and its context will be particularly valuable to non-Italians. … there are lots of biographies and commentaries available.” (Robert E. O’Malley, Jr., SIAM Review, Vol. 53 (2), 2011)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Dipto. Matematica, Università Genova, Genova, Italy

    Claudio Bartocci

  • Dipto. Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Renato Betti

  • Centro PRISTEM, Università Bocconi, Milano, Italy

    Angelo Guerraggio

  • , Dipto. Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Roberto Lucchetti

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