Product Description

The Poincaré Conjecture tells the story behind one of the world’s most confounding mathematical theories. Formulated in 1904 by Henri Poincaré, his Conjecture promised to describe the very shape of the universe, but remained unproved until a huge prize was offered for its solution in 2000. Six years later, an eccentric Russian mathematician had the answer. Here, Donal O’Shea explains the maths behind the Conjecture and its proof, and illuminates the curious personalities surrounding this perplexing conundrum, along the way taking in a grand sweep of scientific history from the ancient Greeks to Christopher Columbus. This is an enthralling tale of human endeavour, intellectual brilliance and the thrill of discovery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144101 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
A truly marvellous book (Martin Gardner )

Intriguing (The Times )

Beautifully written (American Scientist )

Reveals the human story behind the challenge of the conjecture, and gives us a glimpse of the weird world inhabited by mathematicians (BBC Focus )

Conveys topology's mind-bending contortions with great flair (New Scientist )

One can't read The Poincaré Conjecture without an overwhelming awe at the infinite depths and richness of a mathematical realm not made by us (Martin Gardner, author of The Annotated Alice )

Keith Devlin, Author of The Millenium Problems
"The History of the Poincare Conjecture is the story of one of the
most important areas of modern mathematics. Donal O'Shea tells that story
in a delightful and informative way - the concepts, the issues, and the
people who made everything happen. I recommend it highly"

Spectator
'Entertaining... O'Shea wants to give us a feel for the buzz of discovery'