Rating: 
Summary: A great read
Review: This is a wonderful book. Hoffman writes a series of vignettes about Paul Erdos, a giant of number theory. Erdos, who died in 1996, was as eccentric as he was brilliant. Though Erdos engaged in few activities outside of mathematics in his adult life, he lived as interesting a life as anyone's, in my opinion. The stories about Erdos and his fellow mathematicians are so entertaining and, in some cases, so genuinely uplifting or poignant, that I have read some of them five times. Also, the quotes and opinions from Erdos himself are very interesting and amusing. His ideas were certainly unconventional, but many of them are very insightful. "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers" does not provide the most systematic account of Erdos's life possible, but in its current format it is more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: How a good biography should be
Review: This is one of two excellent biographies published shortly after Paul Erdos' death (the other being "my brain is open" by B.Schechter) This book succeeds on many levels. It is a well written biography about an ideal subject. Erdos traveled in time through the most important events of century, and in space through the countries of four continent. Intellectually, he influenced many areas of pure mathematics: mostly discrete (number theory, combinatorics, Ramsey theory, random graphs) math, but with important excursions in analysis and probability as well. On top of that, he had a truly unique personality and research style. The book is rich in very humorous anecdotes, from which Erdos emerges as a generous, unselfish man with an obsession for beautiful mathematics. However, Hoffman is more interested in depicting the mathematical community at large, and rightly so: this is a relatively small group of people who are usually regarded as eccentic and obscure. After reading the life of Erdos and company most readers will change their opinion, for the better. Finally, this book succeed in giving a flavor of number theory and combinatorics; in this respect it resembles the masterpiece "What is Mathematics?" by Courant and Robbins.It would a fitting tribute to Erdos that some high school students will choose a math major after being inspired by his life.
Rating:
Summary: Paul- what an eccentric!
Review: If you want to read a biography of an eccentric but highly accomplished man, look no further. Paul Erdos may have lacked everyday practical skills, may have had a very disheveled appearance, may have worked 19 hours a day on math but he was one of the worlds most prolific mathematicians. Fascinating read.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting read...
Review: Having had no prior knowledge of Paul Erdos and his work, I purchased this book on a whim. I enjoy biographies of interesting people and he certainly was one. The book is a biography for the most part but also contains much biographical anecdotes of other great mathematicians. I found these anecdotes to be very interesting and a good introduction to this group of interesting people. I find these brief descriptions interesting enough to pursue full biographies of some of these individuals. There is also much discussion of various mathematical principles and theories. While this may seem daunting, they are explained with amazing lucid language that any layperson may grasp even these most difficult mathematical laws. I found the book a great introduction to the world of mathematics and found myself more interested in math than I ever was before. It made me regret not taking calculus in college.
Rating:
Summary: The life of a mathematical minstrel
Review: This is an excellent biography of one of the most extraordinary people of this century, but the title is inaccurate. Mathematics is much more than just number manipulation and Paul Erdös worked in every area of the field. Most ancient cultures had the tradition of the traveling minstrel, someone who moved from place to place, trading news and tales for food and lodging. In Western history, the most well-known person is Homer, the "author" of the Iliad.
Paul Erdös was a modern reincarnation of a bard in the Homeric tradition. With no fixed home or job, he traveled the world with a set of possessions that would fit in modern airline carry-on luggage. His collection and transference of mathematical knowledge will ultimately prove to be the most significant contribution of all minstrels down through history.
Paul Hoffman captures the essence of Erdös in all respects. His genius, idiosynchracies, eccentricities, fundamental goodness, kindness, consideration and amazing capacity for work are described in wonderful detail. Speaking a language all his own, he was also blessed with a sense of humor. In his world, a male was a slave and a female a master. Children were epsilons and people who did not do mathematics trivial beings.
The life of Paul Erdös was also intertwined with the major historical events of this century. His father left home to fight for the empire of Austria-Hungary in the first world war. Like so many talented people, he fled the gathering storm of Europe to seek refuge in the English speaking areas. After the conclusion of the second world war, where many in his family were killed in the camps, he found himself running afoul of those paranoid enough to see communists everywhere there was honest disagreement.
Although they are rare, there are people whose obsessions benefit humanity and Erdös was certainly one. In his last years, he took amphetamines so that he could work nineteen hours a day on mathematics. I am totally opposed to drug use, but this is one instance where an argument could be made that the drug use was beneficial. Without question, it did lead to additional progress in mathematics. It is comforting to note that the last page of the book contains a comment from him concerning his drug use becoming public. He was concerned that others may view his actions as any form of approval of others taking the same route.
In conclusion, this is a fine biography of one of the most extraordinary individuals of all time. An extremely abridged collection of his works would make a complete mathematical library. He will be remembered as long as there are mathematicians to carry on his work.
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
Rating:
Summary: superb biographical account !
Review: Needless to say Erdos, the most prolific mathematician of all times had a curious yet eventful life ! He very well epitomizes the `nerd' character and yet had a childlike innocence combined with a divine gift for maths. And the book fittingly describes his life in humourous fashion. The book is a delight for biography fans. This book doesn't cover all his maths nor is intended for that purpose but is more towards the humane side of the mathematician. Give it a try on a dull day and you'll surely brighten it up with its numerous anecdotes. I liked it immensely although I was hoping to find stuff on graph theory or combinatorics etc.. but this is nevertheless a spectacular read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste of Money
Review: This is a book filled with garbages which the author took from somewhere else and forcefully pasted them together in a rather distorted way. Most of the time, the attentions are focused on fun and interesting issues of other mathematicians other than Paul Erdos himself. After reading the book, I really have to agree with reader from San Diego that this man (Hoffman) is trying to make a cash out of Erdos' death, and this is very sad.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insight into the mind of a mathematical genius
Review: This is an unconventional biography of an extremely unconventional person. Hoffman does not follow the classic chronological structure of laying out the subject's life. Rather, he creates a web of anecdotes and vignettes on Erdos, narratives on and by his colleagues and collaborators, and lucid explanations of some of the mathematical problems Erdos spent his life on. For someone other than Erdos Hoffman's tactic may not have worked. For Erdos, it works brilliantly. Here is why: Erdos was completely addicted to math from about age four until the minute he died, and undoubtedly spent the vast majority of his conscious life in the world of math. He was also an oddly and intensely social man - but exclusively through math. Doing math together, collaborating on papers, talking, living, breathing math in conjunction with others (and totally exhausting them in the process) was just about his only way of connecting to other people. These math-based social connections were in their peculiar way unfathomably rich, deep, and intense, as well as far-flung and extremely numerous. Hoffman biographical approach permits Erdos's (conventionally speaking) totally dispersed and rootless and (mathematically speaking) totally focused life to emerge in all its complexity and splendor. By conveying a strong sense of the pristine beauty and lucidity of math as Erdos saw it, Hoffman makes intelligible why Erdos so strongly preferred the mathematical world to ours. This is one of the best books for finding out why mathematicians are so enamored of their subject.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading for biography fans
Review: I received this book as a gift, and as a non-mathematician I thought it was both an interesting biography and an engaging overview of some of the key events and themes in modern mathematics. Fair warning: it won't in particular teach you any mathematics per se; it's more about painting a picture of how mathematicians go about doing the things they do, and what makes them tick. I would recommend this to those who like to read biographies, or those who are specifically interested in Paul Erdos himself, or those who are interested in the mathematics profession (that is, about what mathematics is like as a pursuit or profession).
Rating:
Summary: Math Was Never this Much Fun
Review: The best book I have read in months because the human being and the mathematical mind make an irresistable brew both touching and stimulating. Filled with fun, peppered with stretches to your thinking, and all tied together by the subject, Paul Erdos who spends a lifetime riding a magic carpet of numbers, puzzles and vexing word problems. No deeper math skills necessary to fully enjoy this enchanting book.
|
