Fantasia Mathematica

by Clifton Fadiman

Book Overview

Clifton Fadiman's classic collection of mathematical stories, essays and anecdotes is now once again available. Ranging from the poignant to the comical via the simply surreal, these selections include writing by Aldous Huxley, Martin Gardner, H.G. Wells, George Gamow, G.H. Hardy, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and many others. Humorous, mysterious, and always entertaining, this collection is sure to bring a smile to the faces of mathematicians...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0387949313
• ISBN13: 9780387949314
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Copernicus Books
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The stories have a whimsical, humorous quality due to seriousness gone effectively awry

The mathematics behind the fiction in this book is not deep and often reaches the level of the absurd. Mathematical jargon is (mis)used throughout, if you know the mathematical principles being cited, it will be difficult for you to avoid mentally reciting the mantra, "Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous." Nevertheless it is very fun to read, the stories possess a whimsical quality that will tickle the funny bones of everyone who is willing to relax their mathematical rigidity for a moment. This is due to the general quality of the writing, which is excellent, combined with the humor inherent in seriousness gone effectively awry. This book is the perfect way for a mathematician to respond to a personal need to "lighten up."

JEEPERS! An interesting book about math?

What a relief to open the pages of this book. I approach mathematics as a subject necessary, but always painful, to learn. Dare I say I love this book? Some of the short stories are humorous, some are endearing, some have common characters. All deal with mathematics in one way or another. Fadiman's book succeeded where so many others failed--it interested me.A LIFE LEARNING POINT: This book closely tied math with imagination and fantasy--a connection never clearly drawn in my public education. I think, though, that it's very important to present mathematics as the language for interpreting the world that it is...rather than as a cold and mostly irrelevant subject to get C minuses in! IT MADE MATH EXCITING. Yikes, did I say that? It is another way to know why your baseball is going to break the window, how to build a spaceship in your back yard, and how to teleport to Argentina in 0 seconds flat.A real tangible benefit to reading this book was learning the derivation of Pythagoras' Theorom. Not to sound like an idiot, but I think most of us went through high school geometry having no clue where a2 + b2 = c2 came from. In two pages, this book explained it so clearly to me that I laughed out loud. IF ONLY THEY USED THIS TO TEACH ME INSTEAD OF A BRUTAL MATH BOOK! This book is worth it in Hard Cover or Paperback. Own it and you too can open up to your closest friends and admit you liked a book about math...

Fantasia the Great

You don't have to be mathematically inclined to enjoy this collection, but it helps. On the other hand, if you take your math too seriously, this book may go right under your head. This anthology was first assembled in 1958, with some stories dating back to the 1920s, so some of the accounts of how machines could be used in the future now make one want to say, "If only you knew". Some of the best stories, however, are timeless. Section 2 (Imaginaries) is the best; my favorites are A Subway Named Moebius, And He Built a Crooked House, A Botts and the Moebius Strip, The Captured Cross-Section, and No-Sided Professor. A science-fiction writer friend once pooh-poohed this collection as amateurish sci-fi, but the rest of us will love it. It's great to have it back in print.

just as good as i remember

i have a very old copy that belonged to my uncle, a math proffessor...and i would recommend this to anyone who enjoys math and science fiction...it is great even for those who dont understand in depth math concepts because everything is at a level that most will understand. I first read at age 12, and i liked it then and still do. READ IT!!!!!

One of my favourite books.

I am delighted to find this book available for sale. I lost my copy several years ago and have missed it immensely. This is a delightful collection of science fiction stories and poems all with the common property that they use mathematics of some kind as their theme. Some stories are very funny, others are thought provoking and at least one is quite touching. They're all entertaining. You probably won't learn much mathematics from these stories (mathematicians are warned in the forward to stay away), but if you're the least bit interested in mathematics, you will find them enchanting. I highly recommend this book - its a gem!