Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical
Problemby Simon Singh (Anchor Books, 1998; ISBN: 0385493622)—The epic quest
to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem is recounted, replete with human drama and tragedy.Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in
Mathematicsby John Derbyshire (Plume Books, 2004; ISBN: 0452285259). Math, his-
tory, and biography are intertwined in this story of a mathematical mystery that
remains unsolved.Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solvedby Robin Wilson (Prince-
ton University Press, 2004; ISBN: 0691120234). A seemingly simple problem that per-
plexed amateur and professional mathematicians for more than a hundred years is
recounted in this interesting work.What are some other interesting nonfiction booksabout mathematics?
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of nonfiction books devoted to mathematics
that prove that math can be both fun and interesting:Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braidby Douglas R. Hofstadter (Basic
Books, Inc., 1999; ISBN: 0465026567)—The classic work on human creativity and
thought, bringing together the mathematics of Gödel, the art of Escher, and the music
of Bach.The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth
Centuryby David Salsburg (Henry Holt & Company, 2002; ISBN: 0805071342)—As
the title suggests, this is the story of how statistics changed the way science was done
in the 20th century. The methods of statistics are covered in easily understood terms,
and there are short biographies of the major contributors to this field.The Cartoon Guide to Statisticsby Larry Gonick and Woollcott Smith (Harper-
Collins Publishers, 1993; ISBN: 0062731025)—Inspired cartoons make the learning of
statistics fun and (relatively) easy.The Mathematical Tourist: New and Updated Snapshots of Modern Mathematics
by Ivars Peterson (Owl Books, 1998; ISBN: 0805071598)—The second edition of this
book updates his 1988 book, including mathematical stories of crystal structure,
string theory, mathematicians’ uses of computers, chaos theory, and Fermat’s Last
Theorem. This is only one of many entertaining and fascinating mathematical books
written by Peterson.How has mathematicsbeen used in fiction?
There are, of course, hundreds of fiction books in literature that use mathematics as a
454 theme, a mathematician as protagonist, or have a mathematical solution. More recent