The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe

Donal O'Shea

ISBN 10: 0802716547 / ISBN 13: 9780802716545

Published by Walker Books, 2008

Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0802716547I4N10

Synopsis:

"O'Shea tells the fascinating story of this mathematical mystery and its solution by the eccentric Mr. Perelman."-Wall Street Journal
In 1904, Henri Poincaré, a giant among mathematicians who transformed the fledging area of topology into a powerful field essential to all mathematics and physics, posed the Poincaré conjecture, a tantalizing puzzle that speaks to the possible shape of the universe. For more than a century, the conjecture resisted attempts to prove or disprove it. As Donal O'Shea reveals in his elegant narrative, Poincaré's conjecture opens a door to the history of geometry, from the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece to the celebrated geniuses of the nineteenth-century German academy and, ultimately, to a fascinating array of personalities-Poincaré and Bernhard Riemann, William Thurston and Richard Hamilton, and the eccentric genius who appears to have solved it, Grigory Perelman. The solution seems certain to open up new corners of the mathematical universe.

About the Author: Donal O'Shea is a professor of mathematics and the dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. This is his first book for a general audience. He lives in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the ...
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: 2008
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket