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67th out of 145 books
—
89 voters
The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel
"The Library of Babel" is arguably Jorge Luis Borges' best known story--memorialized along with Borges on an Argentine postage stamp. Now, in The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel, William Goldbloom Bloch takes readers on a fascinating tour of the mathematical ideas hidden within one of the classic works of modern literature.
Written in the vein of Doug...more
Written in the vein of Doug...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
September 1st 2008
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 2008)
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Feb 17, 2013
Paul
marked it as to-read
Book shelf enlargement is an issue that many men consider at some point during their lives. It is not uncommon for men to feel embarrassed or anxious about the size of their book shelves, from a young age all the way through life. The ladies do not like to see books stacked in corners of rooms, unsightly and hap-hazard. Fortunately, for the many men between the ages of 18-80 who are looking to add inches to their book shelves, there are a number of shelf enlargement products and treatments out...more
Of all the short stories in Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges' masterpiece collection FICCIONES, "The Library of Babel" is one of the most peculiar. This weary narration by an aged caretaker of a library of seemingly infinite expanse involves several exotic mathematical principles, yet ones fairly easily graspable by the layman. The mathematician Bloch has written a fine book about all the thought-provoking concepts in Borges' story.
The complete text of "The Library of Babel" is included here...more
The complete text of "The Library of Babel" is included here...more
“Bloch is not only a mathematician, he's also a critic who has reviewed a lot of the literature on the Library of Babel and the life of Borges. So there is a lot in the book besides working out some of the mathematical implications of Borges' inspirations.
If you got as far as calculus in your math studies then you can probably follow most of the math without too much trouble. If you are a fan of Borges, there is a lot here about his math background and interests that you probably didn't know an...more
If you got as far as calculus in your math studies then you can probably follow most of the math without too much trouble. If you are a fan of Borges, there is a lot here about his math background and interests that you probably didn't know an...more
This book is *awesome*! Why? The author takes a short story, "The Library of Babel," by Jorge Luis Borges and analyzes it along many different mathematical dimensions. The results are stimulating and accessible to non-mathematicians. The story is about a library, which is composed of:
An indefinite number of ... hexagonal galleries. In the center of each gallery is a ventilation shaft, bounded by a low railing. ... Twenty bookshelves ... line four of the hexagon's six sides... One of the hexagon'...more
The author does a very good job of explaining some of the mathematics that are implied from Borges' short story, and thus uses this as a generative point. The section on the manifold may be a bit confusing for many (although the author does give his frequent "advisories"). Perhaps a little too much time is spent in the beginning making qualifying comments / apologies when they may not be necessary. In my view, there were a few other avenues the author could have explored, but that is hardly cons...more
A clear and straightforward explanation (for laypeople) of the complex and high-level math implicated in Borges' classic short story, "The Library of Babel." Though the story is just a few pages long--a fabulous translation, much better than the one I had previously read, is included in the beginning of this text--it raises questions from all different fields of mathematics, relating to the vastly huge number of books, the possible shape of the Library, and the textual combinations that might ap...more
Written by a talented creative writer, Borges fan, and mathematician--and any one of those on its own could be a full recommendation--this book delves into the mind-blowing implications of a short story that is already staggering in its implications of scale.
If you have the slightest interest in mathematics, Borges, or glimpsing infinity, I'd suggest you track this one down through a library system at once. I don't think there's another book like it in the world. It's such an unusual that I can...more
If you have the slightest interest in mathematics, Borges, or glimpsing infinity, I'd suggest you track this one down through a library system at once. I don't think there's another book like it in the world. It's such an unusual that I can...more
This book is well written and shows many aspects of infinity as well as explaining much of what infinity means and how we can view or believe some things to be infinite. It explains the passage very well and analyzes many of the arguments of how Borgues conveys this library. I enjoyed it thoroughly but don't think many others would unless they enjoy math or explanations of philosophical concepts.
Great book about the maths behind trying to make a library of every book that could ever be written. My favorite part of the book is in the preface when the authors asks "who is the intended audience for this work" and answers his question "Of the more than 6 billion people who are not Umberto Eco, I imagine that those who'd find this work appealing are..."
A concise exposition of the mathematics we can employ to orient ourselves in The Library.
Jun 26, 2012
Jon Gauthier
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Casual math geeks
Shelves:
math
Very accessible; written in a lively and exciting tone that I wish were more common in this genre!
also a very fun read. I actually only read the first part on the Mathematics of the library and not the literary analysis of the story so far.
Fantastic, non-trivial analysis of Borges' story, comes complete with topology, combinatorics out the wazoo, with just a hint of non-linear dynamics.
Ok, so I'm an easy mark for this book. I was concerned that this would be insufficiently mathy or literary or both, but it is a careful balance of readablity and high concept math. What the title promises, the book delivers.
I just pulled this off the shelf. Reading just the first page makes me feel like Umberto Eco.
May 17, 2013
Kasane Teto
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Geoff
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May 16, 2013
Bindu Upadhyay
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May 14, 2013
Reynard
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May 04, 2013
Andric
marked it as to-read
Apr 25, 2013
Jehosaphat Figuera
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Lisa
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Apr 24, 2013
Nicholas
marked it as to-read
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updated Feb 17, 2013 08:23am
Feb 17, 2013 06:18am