Constance Reid, foremost mathematical biographer of our time, wrote a biography of David Hilbert, the greatest mathematician of the first half of the 20th century. The result is pure celebration of mathematics. While the story is about the mathematician, the novel is also a vibrant history of mathematics at around Hilbert’s time. Math was seen in its pristine form around the time that Hilbert was at the height of his greatness, making the man a renowned champion of the discipline.

Reid, on the other hand, is nothing but a master storyteller with a huge penchant for research to imbue her writings with utmost authenticity, solid facts, and sheer realism. She traveled to Gottingen, Germany, the place where Hilbert made a name for himself, to soak in mathematical culture. The result is a most realistic retelling of his story. Hilbert was born in Prussia, a place that Reid did not necessarily visit before writing. The historical account of Prussia is detailed, nonetheless, in Reid’s imagination.

Reid demystifies the great mathematician by writing an biography that is equal parts science and easy narrative of someone’s great life. In the book, she places the scientist within comprehensible distance to the human being that was caught in the political upheavals of his time. In her sensitive and poignant portrayal, Hilbert is seen not in technical terms. The political turmoil of German history, on the other hand, is told with an almost scientific precision. Reid deftly sheds light on both the mathematical and sociopolitical forces that catapulted the subject of her biography to heights of greatness. With such a technical subject as mathematics, Reid gives us storytelling at its best.

Image