With a reclusive and eccentric hero, dramatic turns, and a million-dollar payoff, Poincarés Prize is the stuff of great fiction. Amazingly, the...
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Apr 26, 2008
Neva
rated it: 
I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars. Basically, it dragged in places. But if you're a lay reader who'd like a full understanding of Poincare's conjecture and what it takes to solve a famous, centuries-old problem, this is a great book. The author is a mathematician and good at making complicated concepts fairly easy to understand, and not going into too much detail when it's too complicated (e.g. visualizing 4 dimensional manifolds embedded in higher dimensions). Plus, he gives a small overview o
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Jun 22, 2008
Ethan
rated it: 
An insightful and intriguing telling of the story of the Poincare Conjecture. The descriptions are excellent, but for such a visual concept, it's unfortunate that there are no images (drawings or graphics) anywhere throughout the book. When I first took topology in college, it was an analysis based class, and I missed out on the beautiful imagery that would have made me fall in love with it. This book has the verbal imagery, but it would seem to be such a small but meaningful addition to incl
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Mar 21, 2010
Robert
rated it:
Briefly. I would rate this book more highly if it had some illustrations of the core topological material. It is after all a book for a general audience without much background in topology and topological pictures can be really cool. I thought the flow, historical and biographical background were excellent. The story is well told (I still have to read other sources to comment on the accuracy and tone) complete with the unfortunate background of competitiveness and another historic round of pr
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Aug 20, 2008
Jason
rated it: 
The writing is mediocre, and in particular, the author should work on trying to be cute less often. There were too many attempts at neat turns of phrase or jokes that completely fell flat. Write well, but don't call attention to yourself.
More importantly, though, the mathematical descriptions were lacking! I know it's a hard subject, but if I couldn't follow what was going on mathematically, I don't know how people without a math major under their belts could. If this were more o More...
More importantly, though, the mathematical descriptions were lacking! I know it's a hard subject, but if I couldn't follow what was going on mathematically, I don't know how people without a math major under their belts could. If this were more o More...
Apr 07, 2011
Bryan
rated it:
An interesting description of the solution to one of the most important mathematical problems: The Poincare Conjecture.
It attempts to explain the mathematical background (topology), but doesn't explain much of the essential background. Terms are used without explanation.
The history and personalities are interesting.
Recommended.
It attempts to explain the mathematical background (topology), but doesn't explain much of the essential background. Terms are used without explanation.
The history and personalities are interesting.
Recommended.
Jul 18, 2009
Brett
rated it:
Facsinating stuff. Very similar to Singh's Fermat's Enigma. Can't say I understand half of the math but still fun.
Jan 15, 2010
Carmen
rated it: 
The Poincaré Conjecture was an attempt to understand space in a higher dimension and was finally solved.
Jan 13, 2009
Christopher
rated it: 
This scattershot, utterly disorganized account is, for the reader, an exercise in frustration.
It's a darn shame, too, because the historical account he's desperately trying to cobble together seems like it could be pretty fascinating. I get the sense that a truly heroic editor might have been able to salvage a readable book out of this, but in this case they appear to have thrown up their hands in despair and run away.
It's a darn shame, too, because the historical account he's desperately trying to cobble together seems like it could be pretty fascinating. I get the sense that a truly heroic editor might have been able to salvage a readable book out of this, but in this case they appear to have thrown up their hands in despair and run away.
Aug 08, 2008
John
rated it:
The history of a solution to a century-old mathematics problem is presented in great detail in this book. The hardest part about advanced mathematics is describing it to non-mathematicians. The author does a good job, but there are concepts that I just couldn't understand. It's always hard to describe a higher dimensional object to someone living in a three dimensional world.
Oct 27, 2008
Snail in Danger (Sid)
rated it:
If you write that Columbus's crew was on the point of mutiny because they believed the earth was flat and they were going to sail off the edge ... well, let's just say that makes me start wondering what else you're wrong about. Particularly when the book will be full of assertions it will be difficult or impossible for me to verify.
Oct 06, 2011
Sophie
rated it:
I got tired of reading all those people who tried and failed, so I skipped most of them.
Feb 25, 2008
Scott and Stephanie
rated it:
A fun, gossipy history of the personalities surrounding the Poincare conjecture. Unfortunately, some of the math is wrong and some unclear. Some mathematicians who deserve better are not shown in their best light. Poincare's conjecture was extremely difficult and even wrong roads led to interesting destinations.
Mar 27, 2009
Maureen
rated it:
I slogged my way through this book. It's a fascinating story told poorly. I kept at it because it was fun to learn the history of so many of the famous mathematicians. Also, unless you are a topologist, you will lose your way after a while.
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