The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.15 (853 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0743422996 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-07-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
--Gregory McNamee. The search for infinity, that sublime and barely comprehensible mystery, has exercised both mathematicians and theologians over many generations. In this sometimes technical but always accessible narrative, Amir Aczel, author of the spirited study Fermat's Last Theorem, contemplates such matters as the Greek philosopher Zeno's several paradoxes; the curious careers of defrocked priests, (literal) mad scientists, and sober scholars whose work helped untangle some of those paradoxes; and the conundrums that modern mathematics has substituted for the puzzles of yore. To negotiate some of those enigmas requires a belief not unlike faith, Aczel hints, noting, "We may find it hard to believe that an elegant
From the end of the ninteenth century until his death, one of history's greatest mathematicians languished in an asylum, driven mad by an almost Faustian thirst for universal knowledge. The Mystery Of The Aleph tells the story of Georg Cantor (1845-1918), a Russian born German whose work on the 'continuum problem' would bring us closer than any mathemetician before him in helping us to comprehend the nature of infinity. A respected mathematician himself, Dr. From the Pythagoreans, the Greek cult of mathematics, to the mystical Jewish numerology found in the Kabbalah, The Mystery Of The Aleph follows the search for an answer that may never truly be trusted.. A compelling
"Finite, all too finite" according to John S. Ryan. I really expected to like this book. God, infinity, Kabbalah -- how could you _miss_?It was okay, I guess.So what happened? Well, frankly, although the biographical information on Georg Cantor and Kurt Goedel is pretty good and the mathematical history is reliable, there's no real meat in the discussions of either infinity or the Kabbalah. Every time I thought Aczel was really going to get rolling and make a profound connection, he sort of petered out and changed the subject.It's too bad, be. "engaging story of Cantor and his problems" according to Randolph Friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It blends history, mysticism, mathematics and psychological interest into an engaging story. Though some of the mystical emphasis might be a little hokey, this was an excellent and very readable account of how Cantor came to his 'continuum hypothesis' and his deterioration into madness. Having an MS in abstract mathematics, and being an actuary by profession, I thought the author made the technical issues very conceptual and stimulating, retaining the accuracy. Mark Fossen said Flashes of wonder. Amidst pages of confusion.While this book has some wonderful moments, on the whole I thought that the math was not sufficiently explained, the history presented in odd chronology, and the book as a whole repetitive.However, the scattered moments of clarity are illuminating - the perfect biographical fact to enlighten a figure, the deft explanation of a mathematical concept - and lift the book from the pile of the completely uninteresting.As a side note - I thought this book would have some