Pythagoras’ Revenge: A Mathematical Mystery by Arturo Sangalli (PDF)

Description

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.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Anyone with some knowledge of mathematics is familiar with the Pythagorean theorem, for a right triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides. What is probably not known is the history of Pythagoras himself. Born in the sixth century BC he developed during his lifetime into a philosopher and mathematician, leader of a group of followers obsessed with the idea that through numbers one could explain the concepts of the world. He left no written record of his philosophy. The fictional account here details the action of various groups seeking a so called manuscript written by Pythagoras. The well written narrative with its many twists and surprises will keep readers eager to follow its development. There are digressions intermingled with the story introducing various mathematical concepts.

⭐As a fan of Dan Brown with an interest in mathematics, I was pleased to read Pythagoras’ Revenge by mathematician Arturo Sangalli. A well-constructed story with developed characters, we are entertained by the search for a lost document written 5,000 years ago by the Greek philosopher-mathematician Pythagoras, as and we learn some mathematics along the way. A good read.

⭐This is an original and entertaining math-thriller. Its strength is the care and detail that have gone into the historical elements, and into the threading of the various plot lines. It is a peculiar novel; it reads like an action thriller for teenage boys, but the main protagonist is an aging, and rather unsympathetic academic. And at it its heart, one has to suspend disbelief over two rather indigestible tenants: that the key figures would play along with the notion of reincarnation, and that the modern day Pythagorean sect would be so powerful. But these are completely consistent with the Pythagorean theme, and the book displayed a remarkable coherency. I hesitated between rating it 4 or 5, but was convinced by the appendices, notes and bibliography. The author put a lot of effort into this book. If you like math-fiction, you will very likely enjoy this. I did.

⭐I’d only read the beginning chapters as this book was bought for my daughter. Thus far it is complicated with lots of technical wording but the content can incite questions about all of these terms and problems to be solved. Not sure about the middle or the end but I am sure she will let me know if there was violence or much sexual content

⭐As a work of fiction this doesn’t hold up—it’s merely a badly written pastiche of earlier secret society novels. Dan Brown comes to mind. Now Dan Brown is by no means a literary stylist but he does have the formula for a page tuner. Here the author doesn’t really have a decent plot. PythRev is just a disconnected collection of episodes with stock cardboard characters–padded with info from wikipedia about few math topics and a bit of classical history. The math is not developed to the point that would convey any of its depth. What I find most shocking is that a distinguished university press–Princeton–would publish such obviously clumsy, amateur junk(as in ‘junk food for the mind’). The author is a mathematician. He should have stuck to abstract formal systems and left writing to the writers.

⭐I am not sure what the author’s intention was in this book. It’s not a novel, in that there is little interest in building a coherent narrative or credible characters. Instead, there are a series of Wikipedia-type entries on mathematics, some of them quite interesting of themselves (such as one on the nature of proof), set amongst a scaffolding of a loose story of a reincarnated Pythagorus, too inchoate for me to even summarize it. I feel the author would have been better off writing non-fiction. Instead he’s written a book that’s neither fish nor fowl, without the satisfaction of a cogent story or a consistent marshaling of engaging facts.

⭐Moderately interesting math in a rapidly moving story that ends up nowhere. While mildly entertaining, the lack of a coherent ending left me slightly disappointed. If you don’t remember your high school geometry or prime number introductions, some of the story leaves you a bit lost. Good for the beach as it is entertaining enough. Not strongly recommended.

⭐thank you! Not what I expected but this is a very unique peice that I will one day take a look at.

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