Naming infinity : a true story of religious mysticism and mathematical creativity / Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Graham, Loren R.

Contributor:

Kantor, Jean-Michel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics--Russia (Federation)--Religious aspects.

Mathematics.

Mysticism--Russia (Federation).

Mysticism.

Mathematics--Russia (Federation)--Philosophy.

Mathematics--France--Religious aspects.

Mathematics--France--Philosophy.

Set theory.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1913, Russian imperial marines stormed an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Athos, Greece to haul off monks engaged in a dangerously heretical practice known as Name Worshipping. Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor take us on an exciting mathematical mystery tour as they unravel a bizarre tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas. The men and women of the leading French and Russian mathematical schools are central characters in this absorbing tale that could not be told until now. Naming Infinity is a poignant human interest story that raises provocative questions about science and religion, intuition and creativity.

Contents:

Storming a monastery

A crisis in mathematics

The French trio: Borel, Lebesgue, Baire

The Russian trio: Egorov, Luzin, Florensky

Russian mathematics and mysticism

The legendary Lusitania

Fates of the Russian trio

Lusitania and after

The human in mathematics, then and now.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-227) and index.

ISBN:

9780674053915

0674053915

OCLC:

651657407