- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Parmenides Publishing; illustrated edition edition (20 Oct 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1930972261
- ISBN-13: 978-1930972261
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.8 x 2.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,129,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Pythagorean Crimes
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Product Description
Review
"Pythagorean Crimes "is a thriller of the mind. It's the thinking-person's answer to the "Da" "Vinci" "Code," This novel gives a glimpse into the intellectually-charged atmosphere of early 20th century Europe. You're drawn into the characters' devotion to their work, and you wish you were sitting at the next table at the cafe, overhearing their conversations. Not content to just explore the personalities behind the intellectual developments of the 19th and 20th centuries, this novel makes the scholars' mathematical work as compelling as any of the characters. Few people associate mathematics and the sciences with the bustling social scene led by Picasso and his colleagues. Tefcros Michaelides breaks the stereotypes about mathematicians and their work as he spins a compelling tale about the greatest minds of 100 years ago and their passions for their work. This novel gives us a glimpse of what it was like to be an eager, young, and up-and-coming scholar during a time where intellectual pursuits were ripe for the picking. "Pythagorean" "Crimes" shares what it's like to have a single-minded focus on a mathematical problem. This novel transports the reader (even one with no mathematical background) into a world where the pursuit of mathematical truth is an all-consuming force.
--Dr. Amy Szczepanski
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pre-Algebra (2008)
"Pythagorean Crimes" is a masterly-told story of romance, art, history, political intrigue, and mathematics, all woven together in a thriller that will be sure to captivate you from the first page to the last.""
"--Eli Maor"
The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History "and" To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History ofthe Infinite
"
--Dr. Amy Szczepanski
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pre-Algebra (2008)
"Pythagorean Crimes" is a masterly-told story of romance, art, history, political intrigue, and mathematics, all woven together in a thriller that will be sure to captivate you from the first page to the last.""
"--Eli Maor"
The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History "and" To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History ofthe Infinite
"
Product Description
Set in an era witness to some of the most avant-garde and scintillating scientific discoveries and artistic creations of the last century, this novel takes readers behind the scenes and into the lives of many of history's most fascinating and revolutionary minds, all while posing the question - could a mathematical discovery be so controversial and threatening as to drive one to kill? After the murder of his best friend lands Michael Igerinos in the centre of the investigation as the prime suspect, he is transported back to the turn of the 20th Century, into the heart of Bohemian Paris and the sensual, hedonistic pursuits of the artists who haunted its infamous Moulin Rouge. There they are privy to the tormented genius of Toulouse-Lautrec, the twisted, visceral perspective of a young Picasso, and the wild exploits of les artistes de Montmarte. Michael and Stefanos meet at the groundbreaking Second International Congress of Mathematics in 1900, at which the greatest mathematical minds of the 20th Century - Hilbert, Poincare, Bertrand Russell, Godel - probed the depths of mathematical mystery and challenged the very foundations on which all of mathematical theory is based. Their mutual passion for uncovering the deepest, most elusive secrets of the universe unites them and their search for mathematical discovery draws them down a dark path whose tragic end neither man could possibly foresee.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Being obvious is possibly the worst comment a reader can make on a crime novel, but what is obvious to one person may be opaque to another. In Tefcros Michaelides's Pythagorean Crimes, the twist at the end depends for its surprise entirely on whether the reader knows the history of mathematics or not. The plot is rather straightforward - a Greek mathematician is found murdered and his best friend (the narrator) looks back on his career, hoping to find clues to his death in his past. The description of this past is possibly the weakest part of the book: Michaelides evidently believes that describing the excitement and fervour of early 20th century mathematics is insufficient to drive the book forward, so he throws in a long section on the development of modern art in the back alleys of Paris, introducing Picasso and his coterie, and claiming that Picasso's art was much informed by his own fascination for the foundations of logic. The plot hinges on an important question on the underlying consistency of mathematics, but surely it defies logic that the resolution to this question should verily be a life-and-death matter? An OK read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
An unusual historical-math-fiction
12 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is folklore that Hippasus was drowned by Pythagorians for proving a fact that today we interpret as the irrationality of root 2. In this simple form, this often repeated myth is quite unbelievable. Michaelides' novel is a modern reformulation of the crime. The book is a well crafted piece of historical-math-fiction. However, its basic storyline is just as unbelievable as the original legend, and ultimately it resonates hollowly. The book has several other weaknesses. As a work of fiction, I found that the prose was rather flat and uninspired, though it's possible that the translation has detracted from the original. The mathematical topics that are woven into the text are reasonably well presented, but somewhat predictable; they are very much the tried and true standbys.
The main attractions of the book are its originality of concept, and the fact that considerable care has been taken with its design. The book is unusual in that it has several parallel strands, which are all presented with an historical perspective: in particular, apart from the mathematics, there is an artistic strand, built around Picasso, a fictional underworld/prostitution theme, and a depiction of a number of real political events. The integration of these strands has been well accomplished, and makes the book original and innovative. If you enjoy the fiction-math genre, it is certainly worth reading.
The main attractions of the book are its originality of concept, and the fact that considerable care has been taken with its design. The book is unusual in that it has several parallel strands, which are all presented with an historical perspective: in particular, apart from the mathematics, there is an artistic strand, built around Picasso, a fictional underworld/prostitution theme, and a depiction of a number of real political events. The integration of these strands has been well accomplished, and makes the book original and innovative. If you enjoy the fiction-math genre, it is certainly worth reading.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Rather historical
2 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback
First of all I want to say that I enjoyed the novel. I think the author is influenced by Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture: A Novel of Mathematical Obsession which is not a bad thing, since Doxiadis is a talented writer. The plot is not very exciting but the historical unfolding of mathematics mainly between 1850 to 1930 is very interesting. The author presents the history of math with a lot of unknown details through a group of young people in Paris. The idea to involve Picasso was also very brilliant. We also get the chance to know more about the Greek history between 1900-1930 which is interesting for Greeks like me, but I don't know how other nationalities will feel about.
A Crime Thriller with Mathematics, Picasso and Logic
21 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback
Being obvious is possibly the worst comment a reader can make on a crime novel, but what is obvious to one person may be opaque to another. In Tefcros Michaelides's Pythagorean Crimes, the twist at the end depends for its surprise entirely on whether the reader knows the history of mathematics or not. The plot is rather straightforward - a Greek mathematician is found murdered and his best friend (the narrator) looks back on his career, hoping to find clues to his death in his past. The description of this past is possibly the weakest part of the book: Michaelides evidently believes that describing the excitement and fervour of early 20th century mathematics is insufficient to drive the book forward, so he throws in a long section on the development of modern art in the back alleys of Paris, introducing Picasso and his coterie, and claiming that Picasso's art was much informed by his own fascination for the foundations of logic. The plot hinges on an important question on the underlying consistency of mathematics, but surely it defies logic that the resolution to this question should verily be a life-and-death matter? An OK read.
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