false 229713 0 0 405510 0425172910 9780425172919 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174477993m/405510.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174477993s/405510.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/405510.The_French_Mathematician_A_Novel 3.92 13 The French Mathematician is a fictional memoir of Evariste Galois, the mathematical genius who made innovations in algebra before his untimely death in 1832. Galois narrates the book, describing how he sought solace in "the order and certainty of geometry" during the social and political upheaval in France at the time. The book chronicles his adolescence, his growth as a mathematician, his political awakening, and his death in a duel. Tom Petsinis teaches math at a university in Australia, and this is the first of his books to be published in the United States. The bare outline of Petsinis's book is interesting, but unfortunately The French Mathematician is somewhat overburdened with flowery language and hallucinatory dream sequences. When Galois works hard on a math problem, he tends to fall into a reverie, like this: "My heart was now beating faster than usual. No longer Evariste Galois, I am impersonal, at one with the eternal mind responsible for mathematics, impelled forward to discover the mystery at the center of the labyrinth. But just as the solution is within reach, I am distracted by the scent of chamomile." A scantily clad temptress interrupts the young genius's reverie during this hallucination and several others. Even though Galois struggles to separate himself from the distractions of the material world, a love affair ultimately brings on his demise. Evariste Galois was probably a fascinating, difficult person, but the budding mathematician Petsinis describes in this book is not a very likable or interesting character--he's a sort of humorless and bitter teen. --Jill Marquis ]]> 229713 3.48 21 5 1997 1085993 0140279369 9780140279368 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1085993.The_Twelfth_Dialogue 2.50 2 229713 3.48 21 5 2000 3465612 1740971175 9781740971171 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3465612.Four_Quarters_A_Collection_of_Poems 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 2006 3465611 0855722150 9780855722159 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3465611.Raising_the_shadow 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 1992 3465610 0855722193 9780855722197 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3465610.THE_BLOSSOM_VENDOR_ 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 1992 3465609 085572238X 9780855722388 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3465609.Offerings_Sonnets_from_Mt_Athos 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 1994 1085998 3442726697 9783442726691 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1085998.Die_Buchliebhaberin_ 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 2003 1085996 0868194115 9780868194110 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1085996.Drought 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 1996 1085995 0140589155 9780140589153 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1085995.Naming_the_Number 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 1998 1085994 014100424X 9780141004242 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1085994.The_Death_of_Pan 0.0 0 229713 3.48 21 5 2001