Recountings: Conversations with MIT Mathematicians

by Joel Segel (Editor)

This book traces the history of the MIT Department of Mathematics one of the most important mathematics departments in the world through candid, in-depth, lively conversations with a select and diverse group of its senior members. The process reveals much about the motivation, path, and impact of research mathematicians in a society that owes so much to this little understood and often mystifying section of its intellectual fabric. At a time when the mathematical experience touches and attracts more laypeople than ever, such a book contributes to our understanding and entertains through its personal approach.

442 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008