Pythagoras' Revenge : : A Mathematical Mystery / / Arturo Sangalli.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Sangalli, Arturo,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2009]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.) :; 10 line illus. 1 map.

The celebrated mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras left no writings. But what if he had and the manuscript was never found? Where would it be located? And what information would it reveal? These questions are the inspiration for the mathematical mystery novel Pythagoras' Revenge. Suspenseful and instructive, Pythagoras' Revenge weaves fact, fiction, mathematics, computer science, and ancient history into a surprising and sophisticated thriller. The intrigue begins when Jule Davidson, a young American mathematician who trolls the internet for difficult math riddles and stumbles upon a neo-Pythagorean sect searching for the promised reincarnation of Pythagoras. Across the ocean, Elmer Galway, a professor of classical history at Oxford, discovers an Arabic manuscript hinting at the existence of an ancient scroll--possibly left by Pythagoras himself. Unknown to one another, Jule and Elmer each have information that the other requires and, as they race to solve the philosophical and mathematical puzzles set before them, their paths ultimately collide. Set in 1998 with flashbacks to classical Greece, Pythagoras' Revenge investigates the confrontation between opposing views of mathematics and reality, and explores ideas from both early and cutting-edge mathematics. From academic Oxford to suburban Chicago and historic Rome, Pythagoras' Revenge is a sophisticated thriller that will grip readers from beginning to surprising end.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- List of Main Characters -- Prologue -- PART I. A TIME CAPSULE? -- Chapter 1. THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE -- Chapter 2. The Impossible Manuscript -- Chapter 3. Game Over -- Chapter 4. A Trip to London -- Chapter 5. A Letter from the Past -- Chapter 6. Found and Lost -- Chapter 7. A Death in the Family -- PART II. AN EXTRAORDINARILY GIFTED MAN -- Chapter 8. The Mission -- Chapter 9. Norton Thorp -- Chapter 10. Random Numbers -- Chapter 11. Randomness Everywhere -- Chapter 12. Vanished -- PART III. A SECT OF NEO-PYTHAGOREANS -- Chapter 13. The Mandate -- Chapter 14. The Beacon -- Chapter 15. The Team -- Chapter 17. The Symbol of the Serpent -- Chapter 18. A Professional Job -- Chapter 19. With a Little Help from Your Sister -- PART IV. PYTHAGORAS' MISSION -- Chapter 20. ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME -- Chapter 21. Kidnapped -- Chapter 22. The Last Piece of the Puzzle -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1: Jule's Solution -- Appendix 2: Infinitely Many Primes -- Appendix 3: Random Sequences -- Appendix 4: A Simple Visual Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem -- Appendix 5: Perfect and Figured Numbers -- Notes, Credits, and Bibliographical Sources