08/12/2013
U.C. Berkley mathematician Frenkel reveals the joy of pure intellectual discovery in this autobiographical story of determination, passion, and the Langlands program—a sort of “Grand Unified Field Theory of mathematics.” As a teenager Frenkel was “converted” from math hater to eager theorist by a mathematical friend of the family, enough to pursue it despite his struggles against an unapologetically anti-Semitic Soviet educational system. Frenkel writes casually of climbing over the fence to sit in on advanced classes at Moscow State University, a top school that didn’t accept Jews. With the help of mentors, he worked hard and eventually found his way to Harvard and the freedom to focus on his research. Frenkel balances autobiographical narrative with enthusiastic discussions of his own work on the Langlands program, a web of algebraic conjectures named after a Canadian mathematician that is noted for its usefulness in organizing seemingly chaotic data into regular patterns full of symmetry and harmony, and its applications to quantum theory. While the math can be heavy going, Frenkel’s gusto will draw readers into his own quest, pursuing the deepest realities of mathematics as if it were “a giant jigsaw puzzle, in which no one knows what the final image is going to look like.” B&w illus. (Oct.)

A New York Times Science Bestseller

"Powerful, passionate and inspiring."—New York Times

"Love and Math is a book by a very brilliant Russian-born mathematician, Edward Frenkel, who tells his life story while he's telling you some of the fundamentals of mathematics in language that interested laypeople can understand."—Moshe Safdie, New York Times, Sunday Review

"[Frenkel's] winsome new memoir... is three things: a Platonic love letter to mathematics; an attempt to give the layman some idea of its most magnificent drama-in-progress; and an autobiographical account, by turns inspiring and droll, of how the author himself came to be a leading player in that drama." —New York Review of Books

"With every page, I found my mind's eye conjuring up a fictional image of the book's author, writing by candlelight in the depths of the Siberian winter like Omar Sharif's Doctor Zhivago in the David Lean movie adaptation of Pasternak's famous novel. Love and Math is Edward Frenkel's Lara poems... As is true for all the great Russian novels, you will find in Frenkel's tale that one person's individual story of love and overcoming adversity provides both a penetrating lens on society and a revealing mirror into the human mind." —Keith Devlin, Huffington Post

"Love and Math = fast-paced adventure story + intimate memoir + insider's account of the quest to decode a Rosetta Stone at the heart of modern math. It all adds up to a thrilling intellectual ride—and a tale of surprising passion."—Steven Strogatz, Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, and author of The Joy of x

"Through his fascinating autobiography, mathematician Edward Frenkel is opening for us a window into the ambitious Langlands Program—a sweeping network that interconnects many branches of mathematics and physics. A breathtaking view of modern mathematics."—Mario Livio, astrophysicist, and author of The Golden Ratio and Brilliant Blunders

"This very readable, passionately written, account of some of the most exciting ideas in modern mathematics is highly recommended to all who are curious lovers of beauty."—David Gross, Nobel Laureate in Physics

"I don't know if I've ever used the words love and math together, but this book changed that. In the tradition of his heroes Andre Weil and C. N. Yang, Edward Frenkel writes of the objective beauty of numbers. Like musical notes, they exist apart from the mind, daring us to fathom their depths and assemble them in arcane narratives that tell the story of us. Reading this book, one is compelled to drop everything and give math another try; to partake of the ultimate mystery."—Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files

"Two fascinating narratives are interwoven in Love and Math, one mathematical, the other personal... Frenkel deftly takes the reader ... to the far reaches of our current understanding. He seeks to lay bare the beauty of mathematics for everyone. As he writes, 'There is nothing in this world that is so deep and exquisite and yet so readily available to all.'"—Nature

"Reasoning that some of us are unwilling to engage with maths because we cannot see it, Professor Frenkel relates it tirelessly to things we can. A colourful paean to numbers."—The Guardian (UK)

"Fascinating... By using analogies, [Frenkel] describes concepts such as symmetries, dimensions, and Riemann surfaces in a way that will enable nonmathematicians to understand them. Whether or not readers develop a love for math, they will get a glimpse of the love that Frenkel has for the subject. Recommended for all readers, math whizzes or not, inclined to be interested in the subject."—Library Journal

"Frenkel reveals the joy of pure intellectual discovery in this autobiographical story of determination, passion, and the Langlands program... Frenkel's gusto will draw readers into his own quest, pursuing the deepest realities of mathematics as if it were 'a giant jigsaw puzzle, in which no one knows what the final image is going to look like.'"—Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating peek into the author's life and work."—Kirkus Reviews

"Frenkel pares the technical details to a minimum as he reflects on the platonic transcendence of mathematical concepts and marvels at their mysterious utility in explaining physical phenomena. Not merely dry formulas in textbooks, the math Frenkel celebrates fosters freedom and, yes, even distills the essence of love. A breathtaking personal and intellectual odyssey."—Booklist

"Part ode, part autobiography, Love and Math is an admirable attempt to lay bare the beauty of numbers for all to see."—Scientific American

"Math" and "love" seldom go together, but the title here fits this book. Frenkel (mathematics, Univ. of California, Berkeley) has had a lifetime love affair with uncovering mathematical secrets. The autobiographical portion of this book proves to be fascinating. As a Jew in Soviet-era Russia, where he was born in 1968, Frenkel fought against prejudice to receive a topflight mathematical education, much of it outside the traditional path. Frenkel's early work was so well received that he was invited to be a visiting professor at Harvard while still finishing his undergraduate degree in Russia. All the while, his passion to understand the mysteries of math drove him, enabling him to immerse himself so completely in his research as to facilitate the complex discoveries that brought him prestige. Intertwined with his memoir is information that will help readers see the beauty of mathematics. By using analogies, he describes concepts such as symmetries, dimensions, and Riemann surfaces in a way that will enable nonmathematicians to understand them. VERDICT Whether or not readers develop a love for math, they will get a glimpse of the love that Frenkel has for the subject. Recommended for all readers, math whizzes or not, inclined to be interested in the subject.—William Baer, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta

2013-09-15
An award-winning mathematician explains his passion for pure mathematics, a subject that reveals a "hidden parallel universe of beauty and elegance, intricately intertwined with ours." Growing up in the last days of the Soviet Union, Frenkel (Mathematics/Univ. of California) benefited from the richness of a mathematical culture that still survived despite the brutally oppressive regime. Jews were denied education in fields such as mathematical physics, which were considered important for national security. As the son of a Jewish father, Frenkel was denied admission to Moscow State University (despite his brilliant showing on entrance exams) and tracked instead to study applied mathematics at a different school. Frenkel's parents, who worked as professional engineers in an industrial town 70 miles from Moscow, had recognized the brilliance of their son and enlisted a local college professor to mentor him in higher mathematics while he was still in secondary school. Through this professor, the author gained access to a circle of top Soviet mathematicians in Moscow, who allowed him to secretly attend seminars at the university and gave him challenging problems to solve. Fortunately for him, with Gorbachev's rise to power, Frenkel was allowed to immigrate to the United States and attend Harvard. "Suddenly, as if by a stroke of black magic, it all became clear to me," he writes of his first independent discovery. The author's specialty became the "Langlands Program," which unites abstract algebra and topology and ultimately has provided insights into quantum theory. Frenkel's attempts to explain the mathematical search for symmetries among different operations (beginning with modular arithmetic and leading ultimately to the behavior of quarks) will be difficult for the mathematically unversed to follow. A fascinating peek into the author's life and work.