My Brain is Open: Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos. This item is unavailable.My Brain is Open: Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos

For over half a century, in the middle of the night, or in the morning, mathematicians in Budapest or Berkeley, Prague or Sydney, would be summoned by a knock at their front door. There on their doorstep they would find one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century - Paul Erdos, a small suitcase in one hand and a bag full of papers in the other, announcing, "My brain is open". Then with his host and other mathematicians assembled as needed, Erdos would begin another mathematical journey. Literally homeless, without even a bank account, Erdos would rely on his host to tend to his daily needs while he explored the realm of mathematics. Before long, fuelled by caffeine or Benzedrine, Erdos would exhaust his hosts. Brain still wide open, he would take off to mathematical conferences, or visit another colleague, logging hundreds of miles on his journeys. This text is an exploration of the world of mathematics in which Erdos moved, an exciting world vital to the technology of the 20th century but largely unknown to many.

Physicist and science writer Bruce Schechter's biography of legendary Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdös is an engaging portrait, warm and intimate, bringing this strange, happy man to life. Schechter's focus is tighter and more traditionally biographical than Paul Hoffman's in The Man Who Loved Only Numbers. Here we get to see Erdös's brief childhood transform quickly into a carefree adolescence of solving difficult maths problems with his circle of brilliant friends--uniquely encouraged by a country that valued the contributions of mathematics in a way that has never been equalled. Fleeing the Holocaust, Erdös never settled down, instead travelling from place to place, showing up on the doorsteps of other mathematicians with his few possessions and an open mind. During his career, Erdös published more papers than any other mathematician in history. Most of the papers were collaborations:

For Erdös, the mathematics that consumed most of his waking hours was not a solitary pursuit but a social activity. One of the great mathematical discoveries of the twentieth century was the simple equation that two heads are better than one.... That radical transformation of how mathematics is created is the result of many factors, not the least of which was the infectious example set by Erdös.

Schechter spoke with many of Erdös's collaborators to complete this biography, which reveals the odd mathematician as charming, opinionated and completely dependent upon the kindness of others. Schechter not only tells his fascinating story, but introduces some intriguing mathematics problems (with easy-to-understand explanations) to show readers why Erdös loved the elegance of numbers more than anything else in the world. --Therese Littleton