The Riemann Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics

by Karl Sabbagh

Overview

Since 1859, when the shy German mathematician Bernhard Riemann wrote an eight-page article giving a possible answer to a problem that had tormented mathematical minds for centuries, the world's greatest mathematicians have been fascinated, infuriated, and obsessed with proving the Riemann hypothesis. They speak of it in awed terms and consider it to be an even more difficult problem than Fermat's last theorem, which was finally proven by Andrew Wiles in 1995.

In The Riemann Hypothesis, acclaimed author Karl Sabbagh interviews some of the world's finest mathematicians who have spent their lives working on the problem—and whose approaches to meeting the challenges thrown up by the hypothesis are as diverse as their personalities.

Wryly humorous, lively, accessible and comprehensive, The Riemann Hypothesis is a compelling exploration of the people who do math and the ideas that motivate them to the brink of obsession—and a profound meditation on the ultimate meaning of mathematics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374529352
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	05/26/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Karl Sabbagh is the author of seven books, including A Rum Affair (FSG, 2000). He lives near Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

Table of Contents

	Prologue	3
1	Prime Time	13
2	Gorgeous stuff	30
3	New Numbers for Old	46
4	Indian Summer	63
5	"Very probably"	85
6	Proofs and Refutations	104
7	The Bieberbach Conjecture	116
8	In Search of Zeros	132
9	The Princeton Tea Party	148
10	A Driven Man	163
11	The Physics of Mathematics	177
12	A Laudable Aim	188
13	"No simple matter"	202
14	Taking a Critical Line	214
15	Abstract Delights	231
16	Discovered or Invented?	249
17	"What's it all about?"	263
	Afterword to the Paperback Edition	276
	Toolkits
1	Logarithms and Exponents	281
2	Equations	286
3	Infinite Series	290
4	The Euler Identity	294
5	Graphs in Math	299
6	Matrices and Eigenvalues	304
Appendix	De Branges's Proof	313
	Notes	321
	Further Reading	329
	The Mathematicians	331
	Acknowledgments	333
	Index	335