In the late nineteenth century, an extraordinary mathematician languished in an asylum. His life's work on "the continuum problem" would bring us ...
read full description
reviews
Feb 22, 2009
David
rated it: 
This is an interesting book about the mathematics of infinite sets in general, and about Gregory Cantor and some other mathematicians who have studied this field in particular. Before one blanches at the phrase "mathematics of infinite sets", be advised that this book is written for a public audience and is really quite readable. This is because several of the basic facts about infinite sets, for instance that there are as many even integers as integers, and as many rational numbers
More...
Feb 07, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
This book was a captivating read... but not exactly what I was looking for when I read it. Though flavorful -- and I can appreciate that this is book is written for a specific audience that I might not be a part of -- I felt that Aczel could have dared to present a little more mathematics in a few places. There were about two or three pages devoted to silhouetting Cantor's diagonal proofs for the countability of the integers and reals, but besides occasionally inserting a statement of the contin
More...
Dec 02, 2010
Phil
rated it: 
The book covers the idealized history of mathematical ideas related to infinity, while telling in parallel the biographies of the various people who were a part of it. More than one of the stories fall into the "tortured genius versus crusty establishment" trope.
The book breezes through fairly advanced topics without much explanation, which is fine if you already have some idea about set theory and related ideas. Yet in another place, he mentions pi and e, parentheti More...
Jan 17, 2010
David
rated it: 
There is a video in You Tube about “dangerous knowledge”. It is a product of the BBC which examines the lives of three mathematicians Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzman and Kurt Godel. The video tries to make the argument because each of these men explored the idea of infinity they went insane. I thought the video to be sensationalistic drivel and didn’t watch the whole thing.
In The Mystery of the Aleph, Aczel explores the concept of infinity from Pythagoras to Cantor. I wish I could More...
In The Mystery of the Aleph, Aczel explores the concept of infinity from Pythagoras to Cantor. I wish I could More...
Dec 04, 2011
John E.
rated it: 
A book about infinity and the man who in modern times did most to advance its study, Georg Cantor. Cantor died in a mental asylum, having been driven there, in a sense, by the maddening complexities of his work. Anyone with a mathematical bent or a certain kind of philosophical inclination who enjoyed mind-bending late-night dorm-room discussions will find much to marvel at in this book.
Side note: When I read this, I had already been intrigued by the complexities of Kabbalah as it fi More...
Side note: When I read this, I had already been intrigued by the complexities of Kabbalah as it fi More...
Jan 17, 2010
Gregory
rated it: 
Nothing is worse, in my view, than coming across an error or inconsistency near the beginning of a book, especially one that I am reading in order to add to my understanding of a subject. In his discussion of the Kabbalah in chapter three Dr. Aczel states that there are ten permutations of the letters YHVH, which represent the name of God. Now I might have breezed right past this had a previous reader not drawn my attention to the error. The word 'ten' was crossed out and replaced with 'twelve',
More...
Jul 18, 2009
Elly
rated it:
This books gives a history of thinking about Infinity, both in a mathematical as in a philosophical and religious meaning. It is also a biography of George Cantor, a mathematician who developed many of the ideas of infinity in mathematics. It is an interesting story about the work of mathematicians.
No Math knowledge is needed to understand this book, but if you know a bit about classical analysis it gives a view of the people behind the theorems.
The philosophical angle i More...
No Math knowledge is needed to understand this book, but if you know a bit about classical analysis it gives a view of the people behind the theorems.
The philosophical angle i More...
Mar 07, 2011
Michael
rated it:
I was infinitely disappointed with this book. I expected so much more. The biggest problem is that I don't believe Aczel knew what kind of book he wanted to write. The subtitle is “Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity.” What the subtitle should have been was, “Study Infinity and Lose your Mind.” Because that's really all he harped on. Cantor studied infinity, and what happened to him? He went crazy. Godel picks up the torch. Result? Crazy. I think a few more mathemat
More...
Aug 22, 2011
Gregory
rated it:
I confess I didn't hold out much hope for this book when I began to read it,several years after it came into my possession,but I ended up enjoying it despite my reservations. Much of the math,even "dumbed down" to layman levels by Mr. Aczel was still over my head. But the history of the search for an understanding of infinity,and the connections to such mystic disciplines as Kabbalah really held my interest. I'm a sucker for those seeking ultimate truth. Even if in the end they fall
More...
Jul 31, 2011
Kane
rated it:
A few small errors, but in all a fairly accessible text on the beginnings and subsequent development of set theory and Cantor's continuum hypothesis. Does point to some key resources for more sustained study. As an introductory text for non-mathematicians, it frames some of the major issues acceptably.
Mar 18, 2010
Will
rated it:
Very fun story about the mathematical development of infinity. The introduction to Kabbalah in the beginning was super interesting, I'll have to look into that more deeply. Great mini-biographies of mathematicians associated.
Apr 20, 2010
Maggie
rated it:
a tour de force through mathematical history. totally accessible to the non-mathematician who also is curious about the history of "infinity" and the people who explored this aspect of mathematics.
Feb 26, 2009
Just getting into it. Story of mathematician that was crazy--- or was he?
Feb 04, 2011
Steffi
rated it:
Impressive, well-researched, easy to follow. Good explanations of the math.
Jun 19, 2010
Larry
rated it:
Georg Cantor is worthwhile to learn about; the rest of the book, not so much.
Apr 10, 2008
Michael
rated it:
The story of the mathematician George Cantor who went mad in an asylum trying to understand the nature of the infinite. Poignant and moving, but it doesn't hurt to have a basic understanding of higher mathematics to understand some of the book's finer points - but don't let that stop you from learning about a man who gazed into the infinite until his mind could no longer make sense of it all. That might sound depressing, but his journey was filled with excitement and joy.
Nov 10, 2010
BAKU
rated it:
Didn't quite get all of this, but now I understand why ' infinities ' are a problem when the show up ( and the difference between potential and actual infinity )
Dec 27, 2008
Susan
rated it:
A surprisingly quick read! I would have liked a little more in-depth info on all the mathy stuff, but I can understand where that might not have been possible. Interesting stuff.
Jun 29, 2011
Adrian
rated it:
Not a bad little book, detailing briefly the history of transfinite numbers, the lives of Cantor and Gödel, and their theories. Delved a little bit too deeply into religious speculation, and not too much at all in the mathematical implications of the work produced. Recommended, but only as a primer and with additional research.
Jul 09, 2009
Tina
rated it:
3.5. There's really not very much about the Kabbalah in here. There's a decent amount of math, but honestly, I feel like a lot of space was wasted giving the backgrounds of all the mathematicians mentioned. I didn't really care about that -- I wanted more religion and math stuff! B/c that stuff was really interesting and cool.
Dec 22, 2007
Alison
rated it:
was a good read although it did not go indepth..."casual" math reading, if you will. i always gravitate towards the mathematics section in the bookstore (math nerd) and this was a good "light" read while i was doped up on vicodin after i got my wisdom teeth out.
Apr 13, 2008
Dale
rated it:
a wonderful book about the search for infinity. Historical, entertaining, and most of all, filled with more math than you can shake a stick at.
Jun 11, 2008
Seth
rated it:
The odds of hitting a rational number between 0 and 1 by throwing a dart at the number line are zero.
SV
SV
Aug 28, 2009
Benjamin
rated it:
I feel the same way about advanced mathematics and advanced physics.
The concepts and ramifications fascinate me, but I don't want to spend the
time and energy it would take to fully comprehend the details.
The author did an excellent job focusing on the background of the
discussions about infinity, Cantor's life, and a few mathmaticians that followed
in his footsteps. He explained just enough of infinity math so that the layman
could understand the concepts without More...
The concepts and ramifications fascinate me, but I don't want to spend the
time and energy it would take to fully comprehend the details.
The author did an excellent job focusing on the background of the
discussions about infinity, Cantor's life, and a few mathmaticians that followed
in his footsteps. He explained just enough of infinity math so that the layman
could understand the concepts without More...
Feb 22, 2012
Feb 18, 2012
