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Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture: A Novel of Mathematical Obsession

Apostolos K. Doxiadis,

Απόστολος Δοξιάδης

really liked it 4.0 · Rating details · 3,551 Ratings · 275 Reviews

In this critically acclaimed international bestseller, Petros Papachristos, a mathematical prodigy, has devoted much of his life trying to prove one of the greatest mathematical challenges of all time: Goldbach's Conjecture, the deceptively simple claim that every even number greater than two is the sum of two primes. His feverish and singular pursuit of this goal has come ...more

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Paperback, 209 pages

Published February 3rd 2001 by Bloomsbury USA (first published 1992)

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Jun 11, 2018 BlackOxford rated it it was amazing

Shelves: greek, philosophy-theology, science, mathematics

Trust the Young

Number theory has nothing to do with the real world, unless you happen to be a number theorist. Then it is the real world; everything else is illusory. Number theory has no application to anything except... well, numbers. It eschews other branches of mathematics as pedestrian. Physics, engineering, and even geometry, although they use numbers, are simply diversions for the less talented, that is to say inferior, intellect. Mere calculation is trivial even if it is arduous and comp ...more

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Mar 18, 2018 Mohikanos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο!
Ένα υπέροχο παραμύθι που σε ταξιδεύει στον παράξενο κόσμο των μαθηματικών. Ο Δοξιάδης γράφει απλά, δεν χρησιμοποιεί βαρύγδουπες εκφράσεις και άλλα μέσα εντυπωσιασμού, καταφέρνει όμως να σε μυήσει στη μαγεία ενός άλλου κόσμου, ο οποίος φαντάζει τόσο ξένος (και πιο ενδιαφέρον) από τη μονοδιάστατη καθημερινότητα που βιώνουμε και αντιλαμβανόμαστε.
Και, μολονότι η ιστορία καταπιάνεται με ένα από τα πιο δημοφιλή άλυτα προβλήματα των μαθηματικών, σε κανένα σημείο δεν κουράζει με τις σ ...more

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Apr 14, 2015 Anna rated it really liked it

Shelves: greek-literature, crime-mystery

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο για τα μαθηματικά από τον Απόστολο Δοξιάδη, ο οποίος - μεταξύ άλλων - είναι ένας περήφανος μαθηματικός. Η γραφή του είναι απλή και ουσιώδης, με αποτέλεσμα το βιβλίο να είναι προσιτό σε όλους (θυμάμαι το είχα διαβάσει μαθήτρια ακόμα). Ο αφηγητής είναι ένας νεαρός μαθητής που προσπαθεί να μάθει περισσότερα στοιχεία για τον παράξενο θείο Πέτρο, το μαύρο πρόβατο της οικογένειας, που οι υπόλοιποι πάντα θεωρούσαν ότι βρισκόταν σε έναν δικό του κόσμο.

Πράγματι, ο θείος Πέτρος βρισκότα Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο για τα μαθηματικά από τον Απόστολο Δοξιάδη, ο οποίος - μεταξύ άλλων - είναι ένας περήφανος μαθηματικός. Η γραφή του είναι απλή και ουσιώδης, με αποτέλεσμα το βιβλίο να είναι προσιτό σε όλους (θυμάμαι το είχα διαβάσει μαθήτρια ακόμα). Ο αφηγητής είναι ένας νεαρός μαθητής που προσπαθεί να μάθει περισσότερα στοιχεία για τον παράξενο θείο Πέτρο, το μαύρο πρόβατο της οικογένειας, που οι υπόλοιποι πάντα θεωρούσαν ότι βρισκόταν σε έναν δικό του κόσμο.

Πράγματι, ο θείος Πέτρος βρισκόταν βυθισμένος στον κόσμο των μαθηματικών, προσπαθώντας να αποδείξει την εικασία του Γκόλντμπαχ (ένας θρυλικός γρίφος, δεν έχει σημασία τι λέει), το οποίο είχε γίνει αυτοσκοπός της ζωής του. Με τη σχέση που αναπτύσσεται ανάμεσα σε θείο και ανηψιό, ο αναγνώστης ταξιδεύει με μέσο τα μαθηματικά σε πολλές ωραίες εποχές και ακούει ενδιαφέρουσες ιστορίες. Δεν χρειάζεται να ξέρετε μαθηματικά, το ύφος δεν είναι επιτηδευμένο, χαλαρώστε και απολαύστε το! Εξάλλου, όλοι είδατε το "Ένας υπέροχος άνθρωπος" και ας μην καταλάβατε τη Θεωρία Παιγνίων (εκτός κι αν την καταλάβατε από το Γιάνη, οπότε να την πείτε και σε μένα!!!!!) ...more

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Aug 29, 2014 Arghya Dutta rated it really liked it

Shelves: mathematics, read-in-2014, inspiring

Mathematicians who do Number theory always awe me. I like numbers. I was surely amazed to find the series:

1+2+3+4+… = - 1/12 (Don’t miss this and the wiki article).

But, I don’t perceive the number 65 as some city gentleman with bowler hat and rolled umbrella who doesn't like to stay away from his prime divisor 13 who is a goblin-like creature, supple and lightning-quick in his moves. Or, for that matter, the number 8191 also does not seem to me as a man wearing French gamin with a gauloise cigar Mathematicians who do Number theory always awe me. I like numbers. I was surely amazed to find the series:

1+2+3+4+… = - 1/12 (Don’t miss this and the wiki article).

But, I don’t perceive the number 65 as some city gentleman with bowler hat and rolled umbrella who doesn't like to stay away from his prime divisor 13 who is a goblin-like creature, supple and lightning-quick in his moves. Or, for that matter, the number 8191 also does not seem to me as a man wearing French gamin with a gauloise cigarette hanging from his lips. But number theorists, at least some of them, seem to feel them in this way, as the author, who is a mathematics PhD himself describes.

This compelling novel portrays the story of a genius mathematician, Petros Papachristos, and his obsession with the yet-unproved Goldbach’s conjecture. He loves to live in complete isolation, and his family members – his businessmen brothers and their families – are happy to be apart from him. Actually, his brothers loath him and it is not that Petros wants to maintain a smooth relationship, either. He epitomises the stereotype of absent-minded mathematician. As the story progresses, this novel provides many pithy observations of a mathematician’s life. For example, though an embarrassing one,:

Anybody who claims that scientists – even the purest of the pure, the most abstract, high-flying mathematicians - are motivated exclusively by the Pursuit of Truth for the Good of Mankind, either has no idea what he’s talking about or is blatantly lying. Although the more spiritually inclined members of the scientific community may indeed be indifferent to material gains, there isn’t a single one among them who isn’t mainly driven by ambition and a strong competitive urge.

I think it as natural, as a mathematician is also a human.

All in all reading this novel, praised by eminent mathematicians like Ken Ribet and Michael Atiyah, was really a pleasant experience. Highly recommended!

Now, I should go back to do some of my calculations, if you excuse.

P.S. : I can only think of Andrew Wiles', who proved Fermat's last theorem, devotion to mathematics nearing the picture of an "ideal" mathematician. Please, I implore you, see this absolutely stunning documentary : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Bqx6... ...more

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Aug 16, 2017 Grazia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Posseduto dalla passione

Ebbene sì. ... si può essere posseduti anche dalla passione... per la matematica.

Il breve romanzo parla della vita di Petros, brillante e giovane mente, che decide di dedicare la sua vita ad una causa incomprensibile ai più, la risoluzione di un difficilissimo problema matematico: la congettura di Goldbach.

Non importa quanto sia ardua l'impresa, confidente nelle proprie capacità e disposto ad una dedizione totale alla causa, si chiude nel suo studio sicuro del proprio suc
Posseduto dalla passione

Ebbene sì. ... si può essere posseduti anche dalla passione... per la matematica.

Il breve romanzo parla della vita di Petros, brillante e giovane mente, che decide di dedicare la sua vita ad una causa incomprensibile ai più, la risoluzione di un difficilissimo problema matematico: la congettura di Goldbach.

Non importa quanto sia ardua l'impresa, confidente nelle proprie capacità e disposto ad una dedizione totale alla causa, si chiude nel suo studio sicuro del proprio successo.
“L’ampliamento di verità e di bellezza che si rivela con la comprensione di un teorema importante non è raggiungibile attraverso nessuna altra esperienza umana, se non forse con il misticismo religioso”

Petros, dedito alla ricerca, un po' come Alan Turing del recente Imitation Game, non vive più nella realtà, ma pensa solo ad arrivare all'agognato risultato...
“La solitudine del ricercatore che si dedica a una matematica originale non assomiglia a nessun altra. Egli “vive” in un universo del tutto inaccessibile sia al grande pubblico che all’universo che lo circonda”

Visto come un fallito dai fratelli, perché perso in un obbiettivo di difficile realizzazione, Petros spende in realtà la sua esistenza dedicandola alla propria passione.

Ma come è giusto procedere nella vita? Bisogna solo darsi obbiettivi raggiungibili e mediocri per essere felici? Non è forse più corretto non giudicare e pensare che ogni persona debba essere libera di porsi gli obbiettivi che crede, anche smisuratamente ambiziosi, libera di esporsi al fallimento o alla delusione nel caso alla fine non riesca a raggiungerli?
“Ogni persona ha il diritto di esporsi a tutte le delusioni che si è scelta”

Un romanzo che è un invito a non isolarsi, ad essere sempre umili, ad affrontare la vita senza certezze.

Il racconto ha inoltre il pregio di introdurre in maniera abbastanza semplice e divulgativa il mondo della ricerca matematica, sfatando il mito che fare matematica sia fare di conto.

3,5* ...more

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Jun 27, 2018 Katerina Charisi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Δεν ξέρω αν το βιβλίο θεωρείται νεανικό (;) ή τι ακριβώς υποτίθεται πως έπρεπε να είναι: Στην Ελλάδα πέρασε απαρατήρητο, δεν είχα (και μάλλον δεν έχω – ακόμα) ιδέα ποιος ακριβώς είναι ο Δοξιάδης, φαίνεται πως οι παλιοί και ψαγμένοι βιβλιοπώλες τον ξέρουν καλά, τόσο που μάλλον χαίρονται όταν κάποιος αναζητεί τα βιβλία του, (Δοξιάδη! Βέβαια! Μου είπαν στο Μοναστηράκι τις προάλλες με τρελή χαρά) κάποιοι βιάστηκαν να τον θάψουν, ειδικά όταν στο εξωτερικό το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο αγκαλιάστηκε θερμά, με Δεν ξέρω αν το βιβλίο θεωρείται νεανικό (;) ή τι ακριβώς υποτίθεται πως έπρεπε να είναι: Στην Ελλάδα πέρασε απαρατήρητο, δεν είχα (και μάλλον δεν έχω – ακόμα) ιδέα ποιος ακριβώς είναι ο Δοξιάδης, φαίνεται πως οι παλιοί και ψαγμένοι βιβλιοπώλες τον ξέρουν καλά, τόσο που μάλλον χαίρονται όταν κάποιος αναζητεί τα βιβλία του, (Δοξιάδη! Βέβαια! Μου είπαν στο Μοναστηράκι τις προάλλες με τρελή χαρά) κάποιοι βιάστηκαν να τον θάψουν, ειδικά όταν στο εξωτερικό το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο αγκαλιάστηκε θερμά, μεταφράστηκε ξανά και ξανά, έγραψαν γι αυτό από τον Στάινερ (!!) μέχρι τον Όλιβερ Σακς (!) κι όμως εδώ βρήκε σε τοίχο.

Αν και πρόκειται για 290 τίγκα στα μαθηματικά σελίδες, διαβάζεται άνετα από ενήλικες έως και παιδιά δημοτικού. Μπορεί να διαβαστεί ευχάριστα από έναν αναγνώστη χωρίς ιδιαίτερη κλίση/λόξα/γνώσεις στα μαθηματικά σε λίγες ώρες (όπως εγώ), μπορεί να προσφέρει υλικό για να ασχοληθεί ο πιο πωρωμένος για μήνες ολόκληρους.

Παρά τις χαριτωμένες αδεξιότητες ενίοτε στην αφήγηση και παρά το ότι μάλλον δεν έχει κάποια λογική εξήγηση αυτό που θα πω ούτε και μπορώ να το αιτιολογήσω με κάτι περισσότερο από το τι εξέλαβα κατά τη διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης και ειδικότερα όσο το βιβλίο πλησίαζε προς το τέλος (πόσο ατυχές για ένα βιβλίο μαθηματικών να λες κάτι «θεωρητικά» και χωρίς απόδειξη :D ) ο συγγραφέας πρέπει να είναι ένας γλυκύτατος άνθρωπος.
Οπωσδήποτε θα διαβάσω περισσότερο Δοξιάδη.
...more

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May 26, 2015 Roberto rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: grecia, scienza, 1001

"Le forme create dal matematico, come quelle create dal pittore o dal poeta, devono essere belle; le idee, come i colori o le parole, devono legarsi armoniosamente. La bellezza è il requisito fondamentale: al mondo non c'è un posto perenne per la matematica brutta."

Ecco di cosa parla il libro: del fascino della matematica, intesa come disciplina che deve soddisfare criteri estetici, creativi ed artistici. La matematica come arte, in quanto richiede creatività, deve generare prodotti necessariame "Le forme create dal matematico, come quelle create dal pittore o dal poeta, devono essere belle; le idee, come i colori o le parole, devono legarsi armoniosamente. La bellezza è il requisito fondamentale: al mondo non c'è un posto perenne per la matematica brutta."

Ecco di cosa parla il libro: del fascino della matematica, intesa come disciplina che deve soddisfare criteri estetici, creativi ed artistici. La matematica come arte, in quanto richiede creatività, deve generare prodotti necessariamente belli e trasmettere messaggi, ovviamente a chi è in grado di coglierli (qualcuno sarà svenuto dopo questa affermazione.... I saliii portate i saliiii).

Il romanzo racconta la vita di Petros, un fallito secondo i suoi famigliari, che dedica la propria vita alla matematica, con un amore per essa che diventa ossessione e che lo porta alla distruzione fisica e psicologica, perché perso nella ricerca della dimostrazione della cosiddetta "Congettura di Goldbach". La congettura, secondo la quale ogni numero pari maggiore di due sarebbe la somma di due numeri primi, fu formulata per la prima volta dal matematico russo Goldbach, ma mai dimostrata da nessuno. La dimostrazione della congettura è uno dei tre maggiori problemi irrisolti della matematica e circola nientepopodimeno che dall'epoca di Eulero e Leibniz.
I numeri primi sono quei numeri che possono essere divisi solo per sé stessi e per uno, definiti da qualcuno "gli atomi della matematica". La loro successione sembra caotica e casuale, ma se osservata con maggiore attenzione diventa quasi "magica e misteriosa".

Ma perché Petros vuole risolvere la congettura, compromettendo la sua vita personale, rinunciando all'amore e ad una vita di relazione? Semplice. Per diventare immortale, per poter essere ricordato nel tempo. Per un matematico la mediocrità non serve a nulla, bisogna essere esageratamente bravi. Per esempio, risolvere per primi un problema importante, anzi no, importantissimo; come la dimostrazione della congettura.

"Archimede sarà ricordato quando Eschilo sarà dimenticato, perché le lingue muoiono ma le idee matematiche no. Immortalità è forse una parola ingenua ma, qualunque cosa significhi, un matematico ha le migliori probabilità di conseguirla."

Petros dedica vent’anni al tentativo di risoluzione della congettura. In questo periodo non fa altro che studiarla e sognarla, ossessionato dal tempo che passa, perché la mente di un matematico è fertile e produttiva solo quando è in giovane età.

"Nessun matematico può permettersi di dimenticare che la matematica, più di qualsiasi altra arte o di qualsiasi altra scienza, è un'attività per giovani" diceva Harold Hardy.

Lui crede fermamente nel fatto che se la congettura è vera, allora esiste una dimostrazione disponibile al primo che la trova. si ispira cioè a ciò che diceva il grande matematico David Hilbert nel 1900: "Noi dobbiamo sapere, noi sapremo".

Ma ad un certo punto.... arriva un ometto strano, ipocondriaco, magrissimo, con gli occhiali, un austriaco chiamato Godel. Che gli fa crollare il mondo addosso, perché dimostra..... che non è detto che debba esistere una dimostrazione, ossia che la congettura potrebbe essere anche indimostrabile. La vita di Petros improvvisamente perde di senso. E... si arrende.

Molto interessante il romanzo, che mescola personaggi inventati (Petros) con persone famose realmente esistite, quali Hardy, Littlewood, Ramanujan, Godel e Turing e che riesce ad appassionare anche chi non sa nulla di matematica. Il libro porta a chiedersi cosa sia la matematica e perché l'uomo ne sia così affascinato. E ci fa capire che l'uomo non deve limitarsi a cercare di raggiungere solo obiettivi raggiungibili, ma deve osare. Solo così è possibile il progresso; senza lo sforzo immane di persone che spendono la propria vita dietro obiettivi sulla carta impossibili, la maggior parte delle scoperte scientifiche non ci sarebbero state. ...more

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Mar 06, 2017 Aprile rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 0-gdl, 0-gut-emotions, greece, 0-divulg-scientifica

Alla fine, torno all'epigrafe
“Archimede sarà ricordato anche quando ci si dimenticherà di Eschilo, poiché le lingue muoiono, ma le idee matematiche no. ‘Immortalità’ può essere una parola ingenua, ma un matematico ha più probabilità di chiunque altro di raggiungere ciò che essa designa.” G.H. Hardy, Apologia di un matematico.
Questa l’epigrafe al libro, che ha colpito la mia attenzione non all’inizio ma a lettura finita, quando sono tornata sui miei passi a controllare se ci fosse una prefazione. Alla fine, torno all'epigrafe
“Archimede sarà ricordato anche quando ci si dimenticherà di Eschilo, poiché le lingue muoiono, ma le idee matematiche no. ‘Immortalità’ può essere una parola ingenua, ma un matematico ha più probabilità di chiunque altro di raggiungere ciò che essa designa.” G.H. Hardy, Apologia di un matematico.
Questa l’epigrafe al libro, che ha colpito la mia attenzione non all’inizio ma a lettura finita, quando sono tornata sui miei passi a controllare se ci fosse una prefazione. Sfogliando le pagine, rileggendo ciò che avevo segnato a margine, mi sono resa conto che più di una dichiarazione è di questo tenore: “D’altro canto, il non-matematico non può neanche immaginare le gioie che gli sono negate. L’amalgama di verità e bellezza che si rivela con la comprensione di un teorema importante non è raggiungibile attraverso nessun’altra esperienza umana…”. Ma questo assunto è vero? Questa congettura – ancor prima di quella di Goldbach - è dimostrabile? E se così fosse, cosa mi son persa, e insieme a me, molti altri? E’ proprio vero che il motore del mondo, dell’evoluzione, è collegato strettamente alla matematica? Oppure il pensiero - quello filosofico - ha perlomeno lo stesso merito? E tutta questa presunzione, questo obiettivo posto così in alto, non sono fastidiosi all’orecchio del lettore? NO. Lo zio Petros è persona dolcissima, determinata, riservata, autonoma, non invadente, defilata, che tende per così dire a “stare nel suo brodo”, a non affliggere gli altri con i suoi insuccessi o con i suoi tentativi, al punto che nonostante dica “al mondo c’era forse qualcuno che, per riuscirvi, fosse più attrezzato di me, Petros Papachristos?”, non risulta essere spocchioso, ma si è conquistati dalla sua fiducia, dal suo accanimento, dalla sua grande volontà, e gli atti di “piccineria” - come il non voler pubblicare risultati intermedi per non facilitare l’eventuale ricerca di altri matematici – vengono perdonati come le azioni stravaganti di un eccentrico vanitoso - viene perdonato solo perché talentuoso, intendiamoci. Ho addirittura trovato più supponente e a suo modo arrogante – anche se in buona fede - il giovane nipote con la sua intenzione di voler far riconoscere allo zio i veri motivi del suo fallimento, non definibile come sfortuna, ma come resa a un quesito la cui soluzione superava i propri limiti. Sì, lo zio è dolcissimo, con la sua personificazione dei numeri, con i suoi sogni, con i suoi fagioli che fanno pensare agli approcci più elementari alla matematica – e per elementare non si intende facile, ma collegato agli elementi, come si legge nel libro.
Lineare la scrittura, chiara nonostante due o tre ripetizioni sparse qua e là che fanno pensare di aver perso il segno, senza però passaggi di particolare bellezza; almeno un refuso (pagina 104). Penso che ricorderò lo zio Petros – magari non con il nome proprio, magari con una approssimazione - anche fra qualche tempo… ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 Josef Del Processo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: regali-natale

IL DIAVOLO

libellino divertente e ben scritto, una storia anche con un certo valore pedagogico pur se a mio avviso senza ambizioni letterarie “alte”
quanto alla pazzia dei matematici, non ho dati puntuali ma tenderei a pensare che non si discosta molto da quella in altri campi dell’arte (vedi mozart, van gogh o altro)
la verità è che i veri geni sono matti e visionari, in qualsiasi campo si adoperino, e giacché la matematica è la somma arte i matematici sono un po’ più pazzi degli altri, tutto qua ...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: number-phobics

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books, bookcrossing-books, clear-unparalleled-genius, read-in-2010

Apparently maths can be fun. Not something I ever really appreciated as a child. Mostly maths was a lesson in which eye contact was to be avoided, a) to limit the chances of being called upon to make any kind of answer regarding anything even vaguely numeric and b) because the maths teacher was kind of creepily weird. This book is what I'd regard as one of the more unconventional additions to the 1001 books list and I really enjoyed learning about the maths as well as Uncle Petros' life story. B ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 N.J. Ramsden rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A very pleasing little novel. Clever, witty, and enjoyable. Unfortunately it's also pretty forgettable, and I fail to recall more than a hazy glow of general satisfaction from my reading of this.

Of course, not the least of its pleasures lies in watching a bookshop assistant struggle with their keyboard as you ask "Do you have Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture by Apostolos Doxiadis?"

Yeah.

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Sep 10, 2017 Cloudbuster rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, psicologico, science, matematica

La conformazione psicologica del vero matematico è vicina a quella del poeta o del compositore o, in altre parole, di una persona interessata alla creazione della bellezza e alla ricerca dell’armonia e della perfezione.

La vera protagonista di questo romanzo è la matematica. Non quella arida e noiosa che si insegna a scuola, fatta di astruse procedure di calcolo, ma quella grandiosa costruzione della mente umana che è comparabile da un lato all’arte e dall’altro alla filosofia. La matematica può La conformazione psicologica del vero matematico è vicina a quella del poeta o del compositore o, in altre parole, di una persona interessata alla creazione della bellezza e alla ricerca dell’armonia e della perfezione.

La vera protagonista di questo romanzo è la matematica. Non quella arida e noiosa che si insegna a scuola, fatta di astruse procedure di calcolo, ma quella grandiosa costruzione della mente umana che è comparabile da un lato all’arte e dall’altro alla filosofia. La matematica può regalare gioie grandissime ma è un’amante molto esigente e possessiva. Chi si dedica alla matematica deve farlo in maniera completa, lasciarsi trasportare nel suo mondo, che può essere anche molto lontana dalla realtà. La matematica, però, può essere anche un abbraccio mortale che macina menti brillanti e le esaurisce nel volgere di pochi anni. La storia della matematica è piena di grandi menti che hanno avuto vite molto difficili (e molti sono citati anche nel romanzo) e sono o morti giovanissimi o caduti nella pazzia.

La congettura di cui si parla nel titolo è una delle più famose questioni irrisolte di cui è ricca la matematica. La congettura afferma che ogni numero pari maggiore di 2 è scrivibile come somma di due numeri primi. Un’affermazione di una semplicità e (apparente) ovvietà disarmante ma che in più di 200 anni nessuno è riuscito a dimostrare. Si può vivere senza una prova della congettura di Goldbach o della ipotesi di Riemann? Certamente sì! Ma ci sono matematici che possono accettare la sfida del provare qualcosa che a nessuno è mai riuscito e decidere di dedicargli tutta la vita.

L’autore del romanzo ha studiato matematica, ne ha sperimentato il fascino e, allo stesso tempo, percepito la propria limitatezza. Nel mio piccolo anche io ho respirato quell’aria, conosco il piacere che si prova quando si riesce a cogliere la bellezza di un teorema complesso, la tensione spasmodica quando si cerca di risolvere un problema e l’orgoglio quando si riesce a risolverlo, la delusione nello scoprire di essere arrivati secondi (nella ricerca scientifica conta solo chi arriva primo). Forse, proprio per questo ho apprezzato così tanto questo romanzo. Non so, però, possa essere apprezzato da chi non ha mai avuto rapporti con la matematica.
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Oct 07, 2012 Christiana Hadji rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: greek, modern-nov, hist-fiction

Δεν είμαι σίγουρη με ποιά κριτήρια να αξιολογήσω το βιβλίο αυτό, και θα εξηγήσω αμέσως το ...θεώρημα μου.
Το πρώτο μέρος του βιβλίου, πριν μάθουμε δηλαδή την ιστορία του θείου Πέτρου, δεν έχει ουδεμία σχέση με το δεύτερο μέρος, δηλαδή την ιστορία της μαθηματικής του καριέρας.
Στο πρώτο μέρος, η υπεραπλουστευμένη πλοκή, η "αφελής" γλώσσα, οι μονοδιάστατοι χαρακτήρες και ο άχρωμος-άοσμος-άγευστος αφηγητής, μου έδωσαν την εντύπωση ότι διάβαζα εφηβικό μυθιστόρημα, γεγονός που με απογοήτευσε γιατί εί Δεν είμαι σίγουρη με ποιά κριτήρια να αξιολογήσω το βιβλίο αυτό, και θα εξηγήσω αμέσως το ...θεώρημα μου.
Το πρώτο μέρος του βιβλίου, πριν μάθουμε δηλαδή την ιστορία του θείου Πέτρου, δεν έχει ουδεμία σχέση με το δεύτερο μέρος, δηλαδή την ιστορία της μαθηματικής του καριέρας.
Στο πρώτο μέρος, η υπεραπλουστευμένη πλοκή, η "αφελής" γλώσσα, οι μονοδιάστατοι χαρακτήρες και ο άχρωμος-άοσμος-άγευστος αφηγητής, μου έδωσαν την εντύπωση ότι διάβαζα εφηβικό μυθιστόρημα, γεγονός που με απογοήτευσε γιατί είχα προετοιμάσει τον εαυτό μου για ένα σοβαρό ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα.
Το δεύτερο μέρος ήταν σαφώς καλύτερο. Εδώ μαθαίνουμε την (φανταστική δυστυχώς) ιστορία του θείου Πέτρου, του μαθηματικού με το σπουδαίο ταλέντο που δούλεψε δίπλα σε κάποιους από τους μεγαλύτερους μαθηματικούς της εποχής και αφιέρωσε την ζωή του στην λύση ενός πανδύσκολου μαθηματικού προβλήματος, της Εικασίας του Γκολντμπαχ.
Όμως και εδώ υπάρχει πρόβλημα. Ο συγγραφέας μας περιγράφει ξερά τα γεγονότα, χωρίς να εκμεταλλευτεί την ευκαιρία να μας μπάσει στο (κοινωνικο-πολιτικό) κλίμα της εποχής ή να μας κάνει να γνωρίσουμε σε κάποιο βάθος τα ιερά τέρατα των Μαθηματικών που συναντά ο θείος Πέτρος στην πορεία του (Καραθοδωρή, Τιούριγκ κλπ). Ούτε μια περιγραφή της εμφάνισης τους τουλάχιστον! Τί τρώγαν, τί πίναν, τι φόραγαν, πως ήταν αυτοί οι άνθρωποι τέλος πάντων! Οι μεταξύ τους διαλόγοι ήταν βαρετοί και στεγνοί, και δεν πρόδιδαν τίποτε για τον χαρακτήρα τους. Μου ήρθε να παρατήσω το βιβλίο στην μέση και να πιάσω μια βιογραφία του Τιούριγκ ή, αν μη τι άλλο, ένα πιό καλογραμμένο μυθιστόρημα. Με λίγα λόγια, δεν ικανοποιήθηκαν πλήρως ούτε οι λογοτεχνικές μου ανάγκες (λόγω της υπερβολικά λιτής γραφής) ούτε η περιέργεια μου να μάθω για τις προσωπικότητες που με ενδιέφεραν.
Παρ' όλα αυτά, έχω μάθει αρκετά ενδιαφέροντα πραγματάκια σχετικά με την ιστορία των μαθηματικών απ' αυτό το βιβλίο, και μου έχει κινήσει την περιέργεια να μάθω ακόμα περισσότερα.
Το τρίτο μέρος του μυθιστορήματος "δένει" τα δύο πρώτα μεταξύ τους και οδηγεί την πλοκή σε ένα καλογραμμένο και σασπενσιάρικο τέλος, ενώ η στρωτή και σωστή γραφή του μυθιστορήματος μου επέτρεψε να το διαβάσω άνετα μέσα σε μία μέρα.
Με λίγα λόγια το βιβλίο δεν ήταν καθόλου άσχημο, απλώς ο συγγραφέας καταπιάστηκε με ένα εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον θέμα που θα μπορούσε να το είχε εκμεταλλευτεί πολύ καλύτερα. ...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Math lovers, science lovers, knowledge lovers, dreamers

Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture tells the story of a brilliant mathematician obsessed with proving Goldbach's Conjecture (as reformulated by Euler: every even number greater than two is the sum of two primes). Despite the seemingly difficult mathematical subject, the book is a quick and easy read. This is a testament to the clear and simple prose of the author, himself a mathematician by training.

While math is the main focus of the book, an underlying theme is the question of how and why ...more

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Jun 02, 2013 David rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Se podría decir que yo soy un entusiasta de la matemática, y me ha tocado estudiarla como parte de mi carrera de Ingeniería, pero disto mucho de tener esa madera de matemático natural de la que están hechos los genios que se nombran en esta excelente obra de Apostolos Doxiadis. Definitivamente hay que contar con una configuración cerebral y mental bien particular para poder lograr los niveles de abstracción que requiere el pensamiento matemático puro. Creo que esta obra es un homenaje a esa geni ...more

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May 15, 2018 MTK rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ενδιαφέρον και ευκολοδιάβαστο.

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Oct 24, 2016 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Matt by: notgettingenough

Shelves: media-ebooks, teachers-teach

Uncle Petros is considered the black sheep of the family, one of “life’s failures”, by his two younger brothers. His nephew, the first person narrator of the story, sees his uncle only once a year when the family gathers for a ritual visit. The nephew is intrigued by the man and especially by his library of books containing some mysterious symbols like ∀ and ∃ and ∫. One day he finds out that uncle Petros was a mathematician when he was young. The boy starts to get an interest in mathematics him
Uncle Petros is considered the black sheep of the family, one of “life’s failures”, by his two younger brothers. His nephew, the first person narrator of the story, sees his uncle only once a year when the family gathers for a ritual visit. The nephew is intrigued by the man and especially by his library of books containing some mysterious symbols like ∀ and ∃ and ∫. One day he finds out that uncle Petros was a mathematician when he was young. The boy starts to get an interest in mathematics himself but before he really starts, he promises to prove to his uncle his natural talent for dealing with numbers. “Mathematicus nascitur, non fit,” is what Petros says. “A Mathematician is born, not made.” The task Petros poses to his nephew isn’t easy, and by the end of the summer their relationship has become quite different than it was before…

This may sound like a novel for (math-) nerds, but it isn’t at all. Although the titular Goldbach’s conjecture is indeed a well-known math problem you don’t need any math to enjoy the book. If you know what a prime number is, and if you can add integers, you’re pretty much set. In fact it’s even better to not lookup the conjecture on Wikipedia, because knowing what it says would somewhat spoil the beginning of the novel. And if you always wanted to know how mathematicians tick you should give this book a try. The author succeeds in bringing us a little closer to this strange kind of species, with all of its quirks, successes, and failures. Oliver Sacks calls this novel “very funny” and “charming” in his praise on the cover of the Kindle edition that I read. I don’t know where Mr Sacks got this from. For me there were only very few comic events here, and the charm is quite limited. The first adjective that comes to my mind is “tragic” actually.

One personal highlight was the mentioning of Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing and the connection of their respective results with Goldbach’s conjecture. Both of these two great scientists, who also suffered a tragic fate, appear briefly as characters in the book. There are a couple more mathematical problems mentioned, two of which had been proved since the book was first published and the publishers announced a $1 million prize for anybody who proved Goldbach’s conjecture within two years (until 2002). Needless to say the prize was never awarded.

Don’t be put off by the little math there is! We have here a really good and inspiring book about the tragic life of a scientist. Only the prose occasionally feels a little stilted to me.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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Jun 11, 2008 Francis rated it it was amazing

A beautiful, compelling, and tragic story of mathematical obsession. As the story starts, Uncle Petros, once a promising young mathematician, has wasted his intellectual gifts, amounted to very little professionally, and his family holds him in contempt but takes care of him. As his nephew tries to discover what happened from him, Uncle Petros reveals his story of how his brilliant start was eclipsed by his all-consuming obsession to crack Goldbach's conjecture. Along the way he crosses paths wi A beautiful, compelling, and tragic story of mathematical obsession. As the story starts, Uncle Petros, once a promising young mathematician, has wasted his intellectual gifts, amounted to very little professionally, and his family holds him in contempt but takes care of him. As his nephew tries to discover what happened from him, Uncle Petros reveals his story of how his brilliant start was eclipsed by his all-consuming obsession to crack Goldbach's conjecture. Along the way he crosses paths with many of the famous mathematical personalities of the early 20th centiry.

I thought the novel was remarkably accurate in conveying the passion, frustrations, and angst of pursuing mathematical research. Basically, only the first one to get a correct proof published gets the glory, even if someone else was really close, or even cracked it first but didn't manage to tell anyone. The paranoia of having your work "scooped" is omnipresent. The other omnipresent fear is that of wasting the best years of your life, or perhaps one should say the most potent CPU cycles of your brain, on a dead end; a commonly held aphorism is that a mathematician's best work is done before the age of thirty. This fear of losing one's edge can be so overwhelming that some mathematicians have committed suicide when they felt that their powers had peaked (the tragic case of Taniyama, whose conjecture with Shimura was one of the key ideas in the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, being the first to come to mind).

While I thought Uncle Petros' fall from grace was a rather exaggerated reaction, given that the entire mathematical community had to deal with the exact same problem, it is entirely believable that someone of his brilliance and passion could have experienced the kind of visceral, distraught flameout that he displayed at the thought that his work might be inevitably doomed to failure.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a passionate depiction of the emotions of mathematical inquiry. ...more

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May 23, 2016 notgettingenough rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-sort-of, sociology, modern-lit

What stayed with me, long after I had read A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit by Alan Lightman, was the tone of regret, that powerful, haunting emotion. He writes of his own regrets in discovering in his thirties that his chosen life was over. He was a physicist, he no longer had any expectation of doing anything that mattered.

When I directed an astrophysics conference one summer and realised that most of the exciting research was being reported by ambitious young people in

...more

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Oct 26, 2018 Albus Eugene Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore rated it liked it · review of another edition

Il nostro caro Dio ha fatto i numeri interi, tutto il resto è opera dell'uomo.
Lo sapevate? Ogni numero pari maggiore di 2 può essere scritto come somma di due numeri primi. Sapevatelo, con lo zio Petros e Goldbach.
La faccio breve, stile Filmtv. Lo zio Petros, brillante matematico greco, sacrifica la sua vita alla dimostrazione della Congettura di Goldbach. La famiglia lo isola, ma il nipote gli resta vicino. Tutto scorre tra partite a scacchi, dimostrazioni e ... fagioli, fino a quando ...
Mi ...more

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Jan 07, 2018 Aasem Bakhshi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: greek-literature, english-literature, owned, science-fiction, science, translation-wishlist

Incidentally, I read it while I was trying to built a non-fiction narrative in Urdu on limits of rationality and mysteries surrounding interplay of reason and intuition in the process of mathematical discovery. I absolutely loved how Doxiadis transformed this well-known thread of history of mathematics into an unputdownable novel. It is amazing how simple his characters look and yet how intricately complex their inner struggles are. The bits about Hardy, Littlewood, Godel and Turing are well ble ...more

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Dec 13, 2009 Terry rated it liked it

Repetitive and dull. The meddle of an author is easily tested by how often he or she uses the same phrase to describe something. While Goldbach's Conjecture is central to the plot of the novella the author says the conjecture dozens of time when this reference is un-needed. The author in no way indicates the actual progress of the problem and the introduction of Kurt Godel and Alan Turing was a dis-service to their memory when presented with such dull dialog.

The end was both a twist and totally ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 Pierre Menard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Who goes crazy for tombola with beans

Shelves: greek-contemporary, mathematics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Il narratore è un giovane greco di belle speranze che nutre un certo interesse per la matematica, in parte dovuto al mistero che circonda l’esistenza dell’ambiguo zio Petros Papachristos, uomo solitario e schivo, i cui unici interessi sembrano gli scacchi e, in tempi lontani, la matematica. Nonostante gli avvertimenti del padre, che lo incita a darsi obiettivi raggiungibili, e classifica il fratello Petros come “prototipo del fallito”, il nostro giovane decide tuttavia di studiare matematica all Il narratore è un giovane greco di belle speranze che nutre un certo interesse per la matematica, in parte dovuto al mistero che circonda l’esistenza dell’ambiguo zio Petros Papachristos, uomo solitario e schivo, i cui unici interessi sembrano gli scacchi e, in tempi lontani, la matematica. Nonostante gli avvertimenti del padre, che lo incita a darsi obiettivi raggiungibili, e classifica il fratello Petros come “prototipo del fallito”, il nostro giovane decide tuttavia di studiare matematica all’università, e lo comunica allo zio, cercando la sua approvazione e la sua benedizione. Ma questi reagisce con incredulità e timore alla notizia (“Mathematicus nascitur, non fit”, esclama, accusandolo quasi di hybris) e invita il nipote a stringere un patto. Petros gli darà la sua benedizione se il giovane arrogante e sconsiderato riuscirà a dimostrare, nell’arco di un certo numero di giorni, la seguente asserzione: “Ogni numero pari maggiore di 2 è la somma di due numeri primi”. In caso contrario, il nipote dovrà abbandonare la matematica.

Mi fermo qui per non rovinare la piacevole lettura di questo gustosissimo e arguto romanzo breve, il cui pregio principale sta nella trama “matematica” divertente e sufficientemente credibile, a differenza di quanto accade in altri deplorevoli romanzi in cui questa disciplina è solo una scusa per proporre banali enigmi da ombrelloni (uno per tutti, Il codice Da Vinci, che tratta la serie di Fibonacci come se fosse l'alfa e l'omega della matematica). Qui la matematica è il filo conduttore del libro e nel contempo “l’eroico furore” che anima la misteriosa esistenza di Petros Papachristos, che il nipote deve a poco a poco rimettere insieme per darle un significato. In questa ricostruzione, il protagonista ripercorre la storia della matematica “pura” (in particolare la teoria dei numeri) e della logica nella prima metà del novecento: Hilbert, Russell e Whitehead, Turing e Gödel, Ramanujan, Littlewood e Hardy (di cui si cita spesso l’Apologia di un matematico), il teorema di incompletezza e l’Entscheidungproblem, il teorema dell’infinità dei numeri primi e ovviamente la Congettura di Goldbach, vera e propria ossessione che attraversa tutto il romanzo. Ho trovato molto interessante come Doxiadis riesca a trovare un posto logico e coerente nella trama del romanzo a questi fondamentali risultati (in particolare al teorema di incompletezza).

La bravura di Doxiadis sta nell’aver concepito un vero e proprio “romanzo di matematica”, in cui protagonisti e comprimari sono più o meno esperti della materia, e l’azione si dipana tra teoremi e dimostrazioni, sogni premonitori, scoperte esaltanti e deludenti vicoli ciechi. Per certi versi, il personaggio di zio Petros, valente scacchista e matematico continuamente “in equilibrio sopra la follia”, ricorda alcuni personaggi di Nabokov (La difesa di Lužin), di Zweig (Novella degli scacchi) o di Maurensig, vittime per scelta o per destino di una pervasiva idea fissa, anche se Doxiadis lo carica di una dimensione più ironica e farsesca (si vedano le note di colore della tipica famiglia greca) che alleggerisce molto la narrazione e la rende estremamente divertente e avvincente, senza essere angosciante.

Il romanzo è leggibilissimo anche da chi non sa nulla di matematica, perché le spiegazioni fornite (con l’aggiunta di qualche nota) sono chiarissime e si evitano inutili tecnicismi. Naturalmente chi conosce l’argomento potrà godersi ancora di più questa istruttiva e bizzarra storia, cogliendo ad esempio i numerosi riferimenti al platonismo matematico, al pitagorismo (con i fagioli al posto dei ciottoli rotondi, un vero e proprio sberleffo rivolto al filosofo di Samo) o al formalismo hilbertiano, oppure il conflitto ideologico tra logicisti e working mathematicians, oppure tra matematica pura e matematica applicata.

Aggiungo che per me è stato particolarmente interessante leggerlo dopo la biografia di Nash scritta da Sylvia Nasar (Il genio dei numeri. A beautiful mind): zio Petros e John Nash in effetti hanno alcuni punti in comune, come esempi di follia matematica! E alla fine ho apprezzato molto che Doxiadis ci lasci con due interrogativi ai quali non dà una risposta chiara ed esplicita: se davvero il caro zio Petros sia mai riuscito nel suo delirante intento e, domanda ancora più profonda, quanto ci si deve spingere nella follia per poter vedere più lontano di chiunque altro… Come recita una famosa citazione attribuita a Einstein, a question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?.

Consigliato ai patiti della tombola con i fagioli.

Sconsigliato a chi preferisce accontentarsi.
...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Petros rated it really liked it

A definitely unusual read, this book deals with the obsession of mathematics. Most people would find them to be boring and useless, nothing but theories without a practical use in everyday life (outside adding or multiplying). The book focuses on the life of a mathematician and shows why this type of people love it so much. Turns out (if you don’t know it yet) that mathematicians love solving enigmas concerning numbers. And not in the same sense as others solve puzzles or sudoku; they love provi A definitely unusual read, this book deals with the obsession of mathematics. Most people would find them to be boring and useless, nothing but theories without a practical use in everyday life (outside adding or multiplying). The book focuses on the life of a mathematician and shows why this type of people love it so much. Turns out (if you don’t know it yet) that mathematicians love solving enigmas concerning numbers. And not in the same sense as others solve puzzles or sudoku; they love proving or rejecting theories by using formulas. Thus we practically see the life of such a person as he tries to find a solution to everything via numbers and hard facts.

As emotionless or boring as that sounds, it is in fact a very humane story that focuses both on its characters, as it does on the so-called infallible numbers that control the universe. It is a biography first, and a mental search for the truth second. We see their daily lives, their mistakes, their passion and disappointment, as both uncle and nephew try to write down a mathematical formula that proves right or wrong a centuries-old theorem.

It is not by any means a hard to grasp tale; it is easily accessible for most readers. All its complicating mathematics are presented in quite the easy to grasp way and it is mostly what the characters do throughout the years, or the methods they use in order to find the truth, and less on endless pages of dribbles regarding weird symbols.

The author is a mathematician himself (amongst other things) so the story was written from the perspective of one and feels very believable and honest. At no point does he try to deify math and present propaganda for people to pick up his favorite subject. He does describe the beauty of looking for numbers to solve something but he also never forgets to pinpoint how devastating it may be if you offer your life to just that, and how you may spend it in vain or get mad along the way because of your obsession. Thus it is evenly presented, never taking sides or trying to enforce a one-sided idea to the reader.

Unlike many other famous authors who use an easy writing to tell stories with very interesting concepts, Doxiadis is never trying to offer a convenient or far-fetched finale just for the sake of leaving the reader with a happy ending. Harry Potter’s Rowling, or The Alchemist’s Coelho may be far more famous and rich than Doxiadis but their story are too silly and superficial if you try to see them with a more critical eye. This book does not fall into that mistake and it is both a good read AND teaches the reader of important life lessons without ever resorting to cop-out magical or improbable finales. Recommended.

As a side note, the same author also made Logicomix, a graphic novel with an almost identical premise. Check that too in case you adored Uncle Petros. ...more

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Mar 25, 2017 Roza Tabassum Ratri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, apostolos-doxiadis

এই বইয়ের টাইটেলের নাকি দুরনাম আছে; এরকম দুরুশচারয নাম বইয়ের দোকানে বললে চিনে না।
আমার অবশয এসব ভাবার অবকাশ ছিল না; কপরদকশূনয বা ঐজাতীয় ঘটনা ছাড়াও আরেকটা সমসযা ছিলঃ আমাদের দেশে এই বই সমভবত পাওয়া যায় না; কোনকালে কাউকে পড়তে শুনেছি বলে মনে পড়ে না ।
তাই কিছুটা উলটারথে চড়েই মনে হয়; আমি নাম শুনে হনযে হয়ে ডিজিটাল কপি খুঁজে পড়া শুরু করে দিলাম।
নাম যেমন সাদামাটা বইয়ের ভাষাশৈলীও তেমনি সাবলীল।হারডি,লিটলউড,গডেল,টিউরিং এমনকি সবয়ং রামানুজন; নামবার থিওরির সব হরতা-করতা বযকতিরা হরদম চোখের সামনে দিয়ে ঘুরে গেল; আমাদের এই বইয়ের টাইটেলের নাকি দুর্নাম আছে; এরকম দুরুশ্চার্য নাম বইয়ের দোকানে বললে চিনে না।
আমার অবশ্য এসব ভাবার অবকাশ ছিল না; কপর্দকশূন্য বা ঐজাতীয় ঘটনা ছাড়াও আরেকটা সমস্যা ছিলঃ আমাদের দেশে এই বই সম্ভবত পাওয়া যায় না; কোনকালে কাউকে পড়তে শুনেছি বলে মনে পড়ে না ।
তাই কিছুটা উল্টারথে চড়েই মনে হয়; আমি নাম শুনে হন্যে হয়ে ডিজিটাল কপি খুঁজে পড়া শুরু করে দিলাম।
নাম যেমন সাদামাটা বইয়ের ভাষাশৈলীও তেমনি সাবলীল।হার্ডি,লিটলউড,গডেল,টিউরিং এমনকি স্বয়ং রামানুজন; নাম্বার থিওরির সব হর্তা-কর্তা ব্যক্তিরা হরদম চোখের সামনে দিয়ে ঘুরে গেল; আমাদের আঙ্কেল পেত্রোস তাদের সাথে এত অনায়াসে মিশে গেলেন; এতটাই অনায়াসে যে আমি একবার সন্দিহান হয়ে পড়লাম পেত্রোস পাপাক্রিস্তোস আসলেই ফিকশনাল ক্যারেক্টার কিনা।
একেবারে খাঁটি ম্যাথমেটিকাল ফিকশন বলতে যা বোঝায় তাই ছিল ; অথচ সেখানেই একজন গণিতজ্ঞের মনস্তত্ত্ব, তার জীবনধারা, তার একাকীত্ব, সময়ের স্বল্পতা এত সুন্দর করে কিভাবে এই গ্রিক ভদ্রলোক উপস্থাপন করলেন; আমি জানি না।নিজের গণিতের প্রতি তীব্র ভালবাসা এবং সেই ক্ষেত্রে বিস্তর পড়াশুনা একটা বড় প্রভাবক ছিল।
শেষ পর্যন্ত বইতে সাসপেন্স ধরে রাখাও ছিল চমৎকার ।

তারা দেয়ার ব্যাপারে আমি বরাবরই উদার; তারার বংশ নির্বংশ করায় আমার জুড়ি মিলবে না ; তবে এই উপন্যাসকে পাঁচ তারার গণ্ডিতে বাঁধা অমার্জনীয় অপরাধ হবে বলে আমার ধারণা :3

এত কষ্ট করে কেউ পড়ে ফেললে বুঝে ফেলার কথা কী সাংঘাতিক বায়াসড রিভিউ দেয়া হচ্ছে। পক্ষপাতদুষ্ট রিভিউ শুনে মনে খটকা জাগলে বইটা পড়ে ফেলতে পারেন ; নিজেই দেখেন না ঘটনা কি :3 আমার মত গজমূর্খ পারল বলেই আশাবাদী; হিব্রু মনে হবে না :3

আশেপাশেই আছেন আঙ্কেল পেত্রোস,তার দাবার ছক;দুঃস্বপ্নের রূপবতী জোড় সংখ্যারা রমণীবেশে ...
আশেপাশেই আছেন তিনি অগণিত শিমের বিচির মাঝে ক্রীড়ারত মগ্ন শিশুর মত বসে ...
আর সাথে আছে গোল্ডবাকের সেই কঞ্জেকচার ... ...more

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Jan 08, 2017 Μαριλένα Παππά rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ο άχρηστος, ο αποτυχημένος. Γιατί πάντοτε οτιδήποτε διαφορετικό είναι κάτι άχρηστο, προβληματικό, κάτι τελείως περιττό κι ανάξιο λόγου. Έτσι αντιμετωπίζεται ο θείος Πέτρος από την οικογένειά του, από την κοινωνία αλλά κυρίως από τον ίδιο του τον εαυτό.

Από τον ίδιο άνθρωπο που κάποτε πίστεψε, πίστεψε βαθιά σ’ ένα όραμα. Ότι μπορούσε να βρει τη λύση στην περιβόητη «Εικασία του Γκόλντμπαχ», ένα πρόβλημα που προσπαθούσαν εις μάτην να επιλύσουν γενεές μαθηματικών. Ένα σπουδαίο ταλέντο, που καταλήφθηκ Ο άχρηστος, ο αποτυχημένος. Γιατί πάντοτε οτιδήποτε διαφορετικό είναι κάτι άχρηστο, προβληματικό, κάτι τελείως περιττό κι ανάξιο λόγου. Έτσι αντιμετωπίζεται ο θείος Πέτρος από την οικογένειά του, από την κοινωνία αλλά κυρίως από τον ίδιο του τον εαυτό.

Από τον ίδιο άνθρωπο που κάποτε πίστεψε, πίστεψε βαθιά σ’ ένα όραμα. Ότι μπορούσε να βρει τη λύση στην περιβόητη «Εικασία του Γκόλντμπαχ», ένα πρόβλημα που προσπαθούσαν εις μάτην να επιλύσουν γενεές μαθηματικών. Ένα σπουδαίο ταλέντο, που καταλήφθηκε από την αγωνία να ξεχωρίσει, να αποδείξει ότι είναι κάτι πραγματικά σπουδαίο, γιατί πίστευε ότι είναι κάτι σπουδαιότερο από τους υπόλοιπους. Ακόμα κι αν ήταν έτσι, αν ήταν όντως σπουδαιότερος από άλλους ο θείος Πέτρος πέρασε όλη του τη ζωή, σε σκιερά δωμάτια, απαλλαγμένος από τις ανάγκες ενός φυσιολογικού ανθρώπους, σκυμμένος σε υπολογισμούς, σε θεωρίες, σε αποδείξεις ενός ανέφικτου στόχου.

Κι έτσι ο θείος Πέτρος δεν έζησε τη ζωή ενός σπουδαίου, αλλά ενός δειλού, ενός αποτυχημένου, ενός λιποτάκτη.

Κι η αποτυχία του ήταν ότι δεν κατάφερε ποτέ να δει το πρόβλημά του με καθαρό μυαλό, απαλλαγμένο τον υπέρμετρο εγωισμό. Δεν κατάφερε ποτέ να αποδεχτεί την αποτυχία του κι έτσι συμβιβάστηκε με την απομόνωση, την αργία, τη μοναξιά και την τρέλα.

Ο Απόστολος Δοξιάδης έγραψε ένα σπουδαίο βιβλίο για τη λεπτή γραμμή που διαχωρίζει την ιδιοφυία από τη σχιζοφρένια. Για τα χαμένα ταλέντα, τις ζωές των ξεχωριστών ανθρώπων που χάνονται στον ωκεανό του χαρισμάτός τους, της ματαιοδοξίας και της μοναξιάς.

*πάντα φοβάμαι μήπως γίνω ο θείος Πέτρος ...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Nicolle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-to-read-before-i-die, mathematics, favorites

I didn't have any preconceptions for this book, my only previous knowledge was that it is about mathematics (obviously!) which, to be fair, means I'm already in favour before I turn the front page! Apostolos Doxiadis has quite cleverly comprised the story of his Uncle Petro's mathematical life into this charming novel without going into too much detail about the mathematics itself making it unambiguous for the non-mathematician to read (or a beginner like me). I particularly liked the way the bu ...more

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Oct 17, 2011 DROPPING OUT rated it it was amazing

Take a look at what the other reviewers have said. Overwhelmingly they were seduced by the apparent centrality of narrative, that is Uncle Petros, the mathematical prodigy, and his fixation on solving the Goldbach Conjecture. But that was not the key issue of the novel. That key issue was stated two-thirds into the story - That humankind can aspire to solve everything by reason, but practically speaking, it is the lesson of Icarus that is the bottom line. "Set yourself achievable goals" may seem ...more

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May 06, 2010 David rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, mathematics

This is a short book--a fast and easy read. The story describes how a good mathematician sank into an obsession that swallowed up his life. The storyteller's mathematician friend, Sammy, mentions that the trail of a mathematical quest will be littered with intermediate, published results on a variety of topics. So, why didn't Uncle Petros publish his intermediate--but important--results?

Interestingly, I do not remember another novel with as many footnotes as this one! (Actually, I don't remembe ...more

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Oct 07, 2016 C.P. Cabaniss rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed this novel. It's mathematical without being overly specific and tedious, which makes it a great read for many people and not just those who appreciate math.

This story was very cleverly written. You never know the name of the narrator, which seems kind of strange but works really well. It also blends in mathematical history very well, including many well known mathematicians.

This is a very fast read and very enjoyable.

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About Apostolos K. Doxiadis

Apostolos K. Doxiadis

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Apostolos Doxiadis (Greek: Απόστολος Δοξιάδης) was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1953, and grew up in Greece.
Although interested in fiction and the arts from his youngest years, a sudden and totally unexpected love affair with mathematics led him to New York's Columbia University at the age of fifteen. He did graduate work in Applied Mathematics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, w Apostolos Doxiadis (Greek: Απόστολος Δοξιάδης) was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1953, and grew up in Greece.
Although interested in fiction and the arts from his youngest years, a sudden and totally unexpected love affair with mathematics led him to New York's Columbia University at the age of fifteen. He did graduate work in Applied Mathematics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, working on mathematical models for the nervous system.
After his studies, Apostolos returned to Greece and his adolescent loves of writing, cinema and the theater. For some years he directed professionally for the theater, and in 1983 made his first film Underground Passage (in Greek). His second film, Terirem (1986) won the prize of the International Center for Artistic Cinema (CICAE) at the 1988 Berlin International Film Festival.

Since the mid-eighties, most of Apostolos' work has been in fiction. He has published four novels in Greek, Parallel Life (1985), Makavettas (1988), Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture (1992) and Three Little Men (1997). His translation of Uncle Petros was published internationally in 2000, to great critical acclaim, and has since been translated into over thirty languages. Apostolos now writes in both Greek and English.

Apart from his work in fiction, Apostolos has written two plays. In 1999, he wrote and directed the musical shadow puppet play "The Tragical History of Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionist", accompanied by a volume of texts and images, Paralipomena. In 2006, his play Seventeenth Night had a year-long run in an Athens theatre. The play is a fictional recreation of the last days in the life of the great logician, and father of the incompleteness theorem, Kurt Gödel.

In autumn 2008, Apostolos, completed the graphic novel Logicomix, co-authored with Christos H. Papadimitriou, with art by Alecos Papadatos and Annie di Donna. The book's story is based on the epic quest for the foundations of mathematics. Logicomix was published in Autumn 2009 by Bloomsbury in the U.S. and the U.K.

Apart from his work in the various modes of storytelling, in the past few years, Apostolos has been studying the relationship between mathematics and narrative. He is currently editing a volume on mathematics and narrative with mathematician Barry Mazur, of Harvard University, due to be published in 2010.

Apostolos lives in Athens with his wife, the novelist Dorina Papaliou, and their children. ...more