Mathematical fiction
Mathematical fiction is a genre of creative fictional work in which mathematics and mathematicians play important roles. The form and the media of the works are not important. It could be literary works in the form of short stories, novels or plays; it could be comic books; it could be films, videos, or audios. One of the earliest and much studied work of this genre is Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Though, probably, mathematical fiction might have existed since ancient times, it was rediscovered as a genre of literature recently, and since its rediscovery there has been a growing body of literature in this genre and the genre has attracted a growing body of readers.[1][2] For example, Abbot's Flatland spawned a sequel in the twenty-first century in the form a novel titled Flatterland authored by Ian Stewart and published in 2001.
Contents
A database of mathematical fiction
Alex Kasman, a Professor of Mathematics at College of Charleston, who maintains a database of works that could possibly be included in this genre, has a broader definition for the genre: Any work containing mathematics or mathematicians has been treated as mathematical fiction. Accordingly, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy, Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw, and several similar literary works appear in Kasman's database because these works contain references to mathematics or mathematicians even though mathematics and mathematicians do not play important roles their plots. According to this broader approach, the oldest work of mathematical fiction is The Birds, a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes performed in 414 BCE. Kasman's database has a list of more than one thousand items of diverse categories like literature, comic books and films.[3][4][5]
Some works of mathematical fiction
The top ten results turned up by a search of the website of Mathematical Association of America using the keywords "mathematical fiction" contained references to the following works of mathematical fiction.
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Further reading
- For a study of the mathematical fiction for senior students and undergraduates see: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- For a selection of mathematical fiction chosen with the teaching of mathematics in secondary school in mind: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- For a discussion of the portrayal of mathematicians in fictional works: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- For an analysis of mathematical fiction with geometrical themes see: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- For a review of Flatterland: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Alex Kasman's database of mathematical fiction
- Popular Math Fiction Books at goodreads
- List of Math-Inspired Fiction at Amazon
References
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