Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature

by Sarah Hart

‘A hugely entertaining and well-written tour of the links between math and literature. Hart’s lightness of touch and passion for both subjects make this book a delight to read. Bookworms and number-lovers alike will discover much they didn’t know about the creative interplay between stories, structure and sums.’ – Alex Bellos

‘This exuberant book will educate, amuse and surprise. It might even add another dimension to the way you read.’ – The Sunday Times

We often think of mathematics and literature as polar opposites. But what if, instead, they were fundamentally linked? In this insightful, laugh-out-loud funny book, Once Upon a Prime, Professor Sarah Hart shows us the myriad connections between maths and literature, and how understanding those connections can enhance our enjoyment of both.

Did you know, for instance, that Moby-Dick is full of sophisticated geometry? That James Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novels are deliberately checkered with mathematical references? That George Eliot was obsessed with statistics? That Jurassic Park is undergirded by fractal patterns? That Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote mathematician characters?

From sonnets to fairytales to experimental French literature, Once Upon a Prime takes us on an unforgettable journey through the books we thought we knew, revealing new layers of beauty and wonder. Professor Hart shows how maths and literature are complementary parts of the same quest, to understand human life and our place in the universe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Mathematics, Literature, History, Writing, Literary Criticism

301 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved once upon a prime. Though at first I found it a little disorienting. I’m a mathematician who is currently struggling through War and Peace, and Moby Dick on my ereader. And I’m the beginning the author talks about struggling through war and peace and Moby dick on, wait for it, her ereader. I sort of was wondering if I had had a bout of amnesia and forgotten I wrote a whole book. This book is full of interesting Mathematical tidbits and facts about classic works of literature. If your interested in one of those things and can tolerate the other—I think you’d like this book. It’s not a book that’s trying to hide from you or play games. If you hear “mathematical discussions of literature” and think “hey I’d like to read 250 pages about that” you’ll like this book. It’s exactly what it says on the cover. I’m just not sure how wide the audience is for this book. I’d love to be wrong and for there to be throngs of people queueing up to buy this but I just think there’s a small population of people interested in fractals and a small population interested in Moby Dick so how big can the intersection of those populations be? I did very much enjoy how little time the author has for Dan Brown’s nonsense. I was provided an ARC in exchange for this honest review. #bookstagram #bookreview #mathematician #primenumbers #memoir

[Anna Sangrey Roussel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book bridging mathematics and literature has a few options: 1) It can be dull and dry; 2) It can be unobtainable; 3) or it can be Sarah Hart's book, Once Upon a Prime.

Funny, rich, approachable, and just the right amount of quirkiness, Hart dispels any myths about the separation between mathematics and literature. Relying on examples in-depth, from well-known to more obscure texts, Hart pulls mathematical concepts from the pages of story deftly and with an academic personableness. Many of the texts I have read or am familiar with, and Hart pointed out mathematical elements that I had simply glossed over with the previous reads.

I've often wondered about the layers and structuring of literature. Metaphor and simile offer hooks to hang many elements, including texture, emotion, color, and movement, but they are not elements of structure. What is the architecture of literature?

We are not left stranded as writers and readers, for mathematics steps in to offer structures, equations, and models. In Once Upon a Prime, Sarah Hart rifles through classic and contemporary literature from Moby Dick to A Gentleman in Moscow, from beloved novels to outlier texts, to share the plethora of mathematical referneces, and not only an arrow pointing to mathematics, but also a snapshot into the ways mathematics provides a platform for story of strength, movement, and centenial wisdom. Mathematics, and the many solved and unsolved mysteries of mathematics, have been harnessed into literature for centuries. Puzzles, secret codes, as in Sherlock Holmes, and inaccurate mathematics, such as in Gulliver's Travels, keep the literary landscape rich and intriguing.

Also, the book touches on mathematicians who were also obsessed with ones, ones I was familiar with such as Lewis Carroll and his charming Alice In Wonderland, and ones I was unaware of such as George Eliot, who weaved her daily, voluntary lessons in mathematics into her beloved literature.

[Stetson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My full review is at Holodoxa on Substack

It's a casual assumption that literature and mathematics are two very distant points on the map of disciplinary space. In other words, we think the two don't mix much and when they do they don't mix well. Here, enters Sarah Hart, professor of mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London to try and disabuse us of this notion in her book Once Upon a Prime.

Once Upon a Prime is divided into three parts, roughly three chapters per section. The first discusses the "fundamental structures of literary text, from plot in novels to rhyme scheme in verse." The second is focused on the use of mathematical metaphors in literature. And the final section illustrates how mathematics can be deployed creatively in literature and takes a critical eye at some well-known uses: The Life of Pi, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, and Flatland. There is a lot of interesting, entertaining, and edifying information distributed throughout the text, but the middle section drags and feels a bit like random trivia. I also wish the first section, especially "The Geometry of Narrative" chapter, was expanded significantly. For instance, Hart mentions Vonnegut's "Shape of Story" lecture but doesn't engage comprehensively or deeply enough with these ideas. I was disappointed by this as the introduction led me to believe this content figure prominently in the book. Fortunately, Hart does provide a detailed analysis of the structure of verse though the analysis is primarily focused on rhyme schema. There is a discussion of meter, but I found it somewhat confusing relative to more traditional discussions of how meter functions. It would have also benefitted the book to explore if there are certain poetic structures that are more inherently pleasing than others to humans. Don't the ostensibly recurring patterns in visual, auditory, and literary arts suggest a universal structure to beauty? Or are the structures variable enough across time and culture to suggest otherwise? Some of these topics may be outside the scope of the book, but I think exploring them would have made the book more resonant with a broader readership and would have provided a deeper link between math and art for readers.

After finishing, Once Upon a Prime I confess I am not entirely persuaded by the premise. I grant that literature has structure and that this can be described mathematically or statistically. But this seems like a reading a bit much into a trivial observation. If we accept the Chomskyite theory of universal grammar (probably our best theory of language), can't we make claims about structure for all spoken or written communication? Maybe Hart would concede this and argue that there are certain math structures that elevate language aesthetically. Unfortunately, claims to this effect aren't made in the book. Instead the treatment of math in literature is mostly as a playful and experimental exercise. Hence, we are blessed with lots of discussion about Oulipo or the "workshop of potential literature." This was a group of French intellectuals who essentially tried mathematical experiments in literature, such as writing whole novels without using certain letters (i.e. a lipogram). I enjoyed learning about Oulipo and their members, but this seemed content tangential to the purported central claim of Once Upon a Prime.

Despite the grab bagginess of the book, Hart communicates complex ideas clearly and accessibly. There is a lot to amuse readers within the book, and there are a few instances where Hart belabors or indulges concepts beyond what would be tolerable to general readers. She also always shows her work, sketching out the equation and computations that accompany the described math. Still, the reading experiences can feel a bit like being inside a pinball machine. Hart bounces from topic to topic rapidly and sometimes wanders various tangents down too far before returning.

Although my criticisms may seem strong, I really appreciated the attempt made by Hart. In fact, the effort was probably a bit too ambitious. Each section (or even some of the chapters) could have probably been given book-length treatments. Plus, these concepts and topics aren't necessarily the most general-audience-friendly. It certainly took considerable creativity and economy from Hart to even acceptably assemble this work. Considering all this, I recommend this one. It's unique, making its weaknesses quite tolerable if not useful. And honestly, I did enjoy many portions immensely: the section on cryptography, the miscellaneous history of mathematical and literary figures, and various esoterica one could only find in a book like this.

*Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley

[Tate Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

[once upon a prime: the wondrous connection between mathematics and literature | review]



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“There's a broader mathematical theme underlying Moby-Dick, and that's the symbolism of mathematics as a way of understanding, and to some extent trying to control, our environment. Mathematics helps us to navigate the unknowable universe.”







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🌟2/5🌟 This was my most anticipated tears of 2023 - which the hopes of discussing the intersection of math and literature while also advertising heavily that this would discuss one of my favorite books I was so excited. This is not a bad book by any means, it just wasn’t what I hoped for. The examples discussed were interesting but I felt it never went farther than pointing out they were there - with the occasional witty jab that I did appreciate but wasn’t necessarily the discussion I hoped for. I have a lot of this author for the time and effort a book like this took to produce and I love when people can appreciate mathematics as an art - but I also shouldn’t have been surprised when a mathematicians writing gets too formulaic. Every chapter began with “in this chapter I will show you” and ended with “to conclude this chapter I discussed”… it was a bit dry.

[Dylan Winchester · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped after 50 pages.
This book doesn't make any significant link between mathematics and literature, it simply discusses a small number of books which correlate with a mathematical sequence. The writing could do with a healthy dose of editing to construct the overarching story and make the writing more digestible, but I'm not sure the core narrative is there to be digested in the first place. The audience for this book is a tiny slice of the population who want to read about this subject no matter the quality of writing.

[Tyler Critchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, witty, clever, informative, and nerdy. Loved it. If you like math, you're going to enjoy this book. If you don't like math, I think this book will help you appreciate it a bit more. I definitely added more books to my to-read list as I went through it.

My only complaint is Hart didn't discuss The Phantom Tollbooth and it's math-focused city Digitopolis. But I'd say the other stuff she did include make up for it :)

[Christine Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Upon a Prime Sarah Hart is one of those books that's just full of joy and delight on every page. Sarah Hart is a professor of mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London, and her passion for both math and literature as well as her gift for bringing clarity and humor to complex topics are on full display here. She adeptly takes the reader on an exploration of the many ways that an understanding of some of the laws of mathematics can infuse a story with additional layers of depth and meaning — and also illuminates the fact that knowing about these connections can help us to engage more richly and meaningfully with a text.

I work in a field that actually makes use of calculus regularly, so I'm already firmly situated within the probably small intersection of people who find equal enjoyment in both reading classic literature and puzzling through a tough problem using statistical analysis — but just stay with me. Believe me when I say that there is a lot here for anyone who loves books. Some of my favorite sections of the book touch on:
- arithmetic and geometric progressions in the chapter structure of The Luminaries
- the doubling and shrinking of time in A Gentleman in Moscow
- the very elegant reason behind the layout of chapters in Invisible Cities
- a discussion of cycloids and the astute description of the Brachistochrone curve in Moby-Dick or, the Whale
- calculus used to illustrate Tolstoy's argument about the forces of history in War and Peace
- the significance of Pi's name and his length at sea in Life of Pi
- a very poignant real life connection to math hidden in Half of a Yellow Sun

As you can see, there's a pretty wide variety of mathematical topics and literary genres covered. In addition to the above, one of the highlights for me was a discussion of the French writers group known as Oulipo which included members such as Perec Georges and Italo Calvino and seeks to create inventive new ways to tell stories within certain structural constraints. She writes a lot about the book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott, which is a really fun and sharply satirical story about a denizen of a two-dimensional world who begins to expand his mind to the existence of higher dimensions. She also proposes a very plausible way of calculating the number of books that might be found in Borges's (not quite infinite) Library of Babel from Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings and also what structure the library might take. And through it all, she shows us that math and language are not so disparate as we’re tempted to make them out to be — that, in fact, they complement and elevate each other in ways we don’t often think of.

[Marks54 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! An English mathematician explores the close relationships between mathematics and classic literature and poetry. There is amazing material to sort out on each pages from odd curves in Melville’s “Moby Dick” to the links between mathematics and the structure of common and uncommon poetry, including children’s verses. I moved away from math as a child and come back to it to learn some needed statistics and other techniques. I regret the interruption of my math learning and wish for more of the wonder.

There is a full range of neat material on display here. Most of it seems to be Professor Hart sharing her highlights that she has come across in a lifetime of reading and thinking. Some chapters will hit readers differently, I suspect. For example, an early chapter discusses the mathematical basis for Eleanor Catton’s 2013 historical novel of New Zealand - The Lunimaries. I remember I loved the book, since I had recently travelled to places in New Zealand that figured in the novel. But I also recall that the chapter structure was involved and that chapters had references to the Zodiac that went completely past me. I enjoyed the book, even though its mathematical basis eluded me. She also brings up Edwin Abbott’s 1884 classic, Flatland, which I read in high school and got my kids to read later on. Other books show up as well, from the stories of Sherlock Holmes to those of Edgar Allen Poe, to the “Life of Pi”, both the book and the movie. Throughout the book, there are also uncounted tidbits of trivia that are attention grabbing. My favorite was an explanation for how a “Baker’s Dozen” come to be an established practice for baked goods (read the book).

This is a good book that most readers will be able to spend lots of time with, although not as much as they would like to spend.

[Peter Tillman]

NY Times review: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/bo...
Excerpt:
"C.P. Snow opens a famed 1959 essay, “The Two Cultures,” with an anecdote about a dinner at Cambridge, during which a visiting historian attempted to make conversation with the men on either side of him, only to be met with bemused grunts. The scholar’s host quickly set him at ease, explaining, “Oh, those are mathematicians! We never talk to them.”

The gap between Snow’s “two cultures” — that of humanists and that of scientists — is no narrower (and no less grunty) in 2023. And mathematicians are often understood to sit on the far end of this divide, somewhere in an abstract realm, without even relatable atom-smashers or charismatic megafauna to chat about with their humanistic peers. ....

That, in the end, is Hart’s message: that here in the third dimension, people are pretty much alike, and strive for beauty and meaning in similar ways whether they’re finding those things in words or sounds or equations. David Foster Wallace, who started out in the mathiest precincts of analytic philosophy, called this phenomenon “the click,” and said: “It was real lucky that just when I stopped being able to get the click from math logic I started to be able to get it from fiction.” Karl Weierstrass, in an 1883 letter to his student Sofya Kovalevskaya, wrote: “A mathematician who is not somewhat of a poet, will never be a complete mathematician.” ....

Kovalevskaya: “Many people who have never had occasion to learn what mathematics is confuse it with arithmetic and consider it a dry and arid science. In actual fact it is the science which demands the utmost imagination.” The mistake Kovalevskaya warns against remains a very common one. Readers of Hart’s book won’t make it again."

Published April 11, 2023.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me seven months but I did it! This slooow read does not reflect the book, but is due to me not really reading non-fiction so much anymore and math is tricky for me. I just decided to accept I wouldn’t understand everything and then it flowed a bit easier, heh.

I loved this concept and the writing is really funny! Just like the author clearly states, the mathematician is not necessarily a closed off cold genius like Sherlock Holmes or Sheldon Cooper. (As I have a math teacher friend who enjoys discussing Marvel math problems on napkins over beer with me I knew this already but still!)

I got a bit stuck toward the middle because I found it tricky to feel engaged when I hadn’t read any of the books she was using as examples, or hasn’t even wanted to read them (Moby-Dick sounds horrible boring, sorry!) but the last chapters picked up a bit with some more well known examples like Jurassic Park, Alice in Wonderland and with some Dan Brown-trashing.

This is a great weave of when literature and math meets, and Hart is great at explaining for a “hated math in school and didn’t try to get it”-beginner.

[Honey · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love maths and literature then this will be an enjoyable read for you. Slightly more on the technical side, but it's witty and quirky. It presents how math literally can be found in literary gems through time. I particularly enjoyed reading about formulaic pieces as well as mapping out equations into the structure of writing. I loved reading this, the author's passion was so apparent in each chapter.

[Rebecca Russavage · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who survived the bare minimum of math classes by the sheer dint of panic and desperate flirting with men who could help me (hating it even more because of that dynamic), I somehow managed to marry an applied math major. My spouse actually makes math sound fascinating and cool, and so I have picked up many math books allegedly written as approachable fun reads for the general audience.

Most of them are not. This one is. Therefore, five stars.

(More seriously: math pedagogy does us all a disservice and I truly wish I had the facility with numbers that I do with words—it should not be such a dividing line as my (mostly) tongue-in-cheek intro suggested).

[Andrew Halterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought me back to undergrad years, especially those times staying after a phenomenal lecture to have an extended conversation with a favorite professor about a topic they love. That was this book to me. Sara Hart provides an engaging, approachable book highlighting example after example demonstrating how an understanding of math can enhance your appreciation for literature and other creative work. I could hardly go a few pages without adding a new recommendation to my “want to read” list.
A solid 5-stars from me. If you think a book about math and literature sounds at all interesting this book will not disappoint.

[Solveiga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool!

[kayu99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC from Flatiron Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book instantly caught my attention with its punny title. Both math and literature are wide ranging subjects, and this book does a good job in demonstrating its scope. Explanations are clearly written and easy to follow. The author's love for teaching definitely comes through and adds to the overall enjoyment of reading this book. The organization is logical and has good progression. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in literature, math, or history, and anyone who likes learning more about patterns, structure, logic, and organization.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm.

I was really excited about this one. I feel, perhaps wrongly, that everything worth while that is true is interrelated. And interdisciplinarity is in.

Math, being some of the undeniably truest true out there, I thought this would work a bit better than it did for me.

Hart's book is not written for Lit majors, though. It's written for mathematically-inclined people who also like to read which makes it not as easily readable/accessible to people like me who tested out of college math at 18 and never looked back.

The last 3 chapters were my favorite. Especially chaos theory which I've loved since Connie Willis. I also enjoyed the quick take on Daniel Deronda. The Tolstoy point was fun but hardly central to the W&P plot.

Points for the idea and the collection, even though it bypassed low hanging fruit in Harry Potter. But I didn't have the understanding necessary to really get most of it. And I had hoped for something a bit deeper in most cases. Of course, the truth may be that literature is not truth and that is why it doesn't work.

Also props for a section in a book about diverse contributions but the connection was tenuous at best. It came out of nowhere, halfway into the chapter and the end in no way connected it and the rest of the book to the whole.

My point is not to say that diverse author/mathematicians do not exist. Rather that they merited better treatment and coverage.

[Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I write this review as a lay person who is interested and is eager to learn more about different aspects of knowledge. This is why my comments and responses are fragmentary. A newspaper review which mentioned this book on maths with a literary bias sparked my interest.

The scope is vast. The author has a great love of both literature and mathematics. Her aim is to marry the two, show how each one illuminates the other. Whether she achieves it with me I’m not sure. I certainly think structure, rhythm and sometimes rhyme are mathematical tools for the writer. What is interesting is that some writers such as Italo Calvino and others (most notably Eleanor Catton) have embodied elaborate and complex mathematical constructions to structure their work. Decide for yourself whether they add to the enjoyment or appreciation of the novel. It obviously does for Sarah Hart

I agree that constraints can lead to creativity, such as the exercises in Oulipo. Apart from that, some of the sections are interesting puzzles, regardless of whether they are applied to creativity. For example she mentions the Fano Plane and constructs a short piece based on it. That seems to be its only application in storytelling. Maybe it passed me by, as I have also failed to notice several mathematical references in the books I’ve read so far. I’ll pay more attention.

Hart often gets carried away by mathematical problems. But her range is enormous. She mentions many authors, including George Elliott , H.G Wells, Lewis Carroll of course, books such as A gentleman in Moscow, Moby Dick. The section on significant numbers or favourite numbers is interesting. There is a great deal to think about throughout the bookFractals are mentioned, those most fascinating manifestations of the natural world and geology. There is a diagram of how fractals in plants develop.

Hart has a playful approach. So here is mine. Speaking of numbers, she omits one important fact - the number three the first prime number, is most pleasing aesthetically. (Planting in threes) In fact, as far as I’ve observed, flower petals come in prime numbers - or shall I say odd numbers (don’t take my word for it, I haven’t counted the petals in complicated flowers such as dahlias etc)

This passage from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime makes this book a worthwhile read. After all, philosophical and mathematical thought are intertwined.

The boy says::

“I think prime numbers are like life . They’re logical, but you can never work out the rules, even if you spent all your life thinking about them”

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hart is an eminent English mathematician. She is also a voracious reader. This is her study of the various ways math intersects with literature.

It is a grab bag of different ways they connect. She starts with the mathematics of poetry. The classical patterns of rhymes and meter are fundamentally mathematical.

Plots can be analyzed geometrically. Romantic comedies are U shaped on a graph. She discusses how Lawrence Sterne mocked that kind of thinking in "Tristam Shandy".

Hart discusses how modern authors have set geometric patterns for their stories as a challenge and an organizing tool. I read and enjoyed Amor Towles "A Gentleman in Moscow". I was astounded to learn that the very interesting handling of time in that novel was the result of Towle using a particular mathematical rule as an organizing principal for his book.

The French Oulipo school carried this to extremes. They wrote books organized on diamond shaped patterns or without the use of the letter E or following the pattern of a Knights tour on a chessboard.

Hart surveys her favorite novels involving mathematics. She has a fascinating section on math in Melville's "Moby Dick", another book I read and admired despite being totally oblivious to the math in it. Joyce's "Ulysses", of course, has big chunks of mathematics, because it has everything in it.

She also considers literature about math. Edwin Abbott's "Flatland" was a bestseller in 1884. It is set in a one-dimensional world. It is still in print. Hart considers math related novels all the way up to Michael Crichton's book and movie, "Jurassic Park", which prominently features the mathematics of chaos theory.

I could follow most of the math bits with my high school math.

Hart is a clear and enthusiastic writer. This is an excellent survey.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My goal in this book is to convince you not only that mathematics and literature are inextricably, and fundamentally, linked, but that understanding these links can enhance your enjoyment of both.”

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 was extremely helpful in doing just that. “Experts” categorize people as either good at math or good at English, thus demeaning one or the other. Why can’t we appreciate and enjoy both?

The 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 is correct when it states that Dr. Hart’s enthusiasm for math and life in general shines through. Even the passages in which she proves whether an author employs math correctly in a literary work were enjoyable.

Do you need to understand all the math to read this book? Absolutely not. All you need is a curious mind and a love for literature and I guarantee your appreciation for math will increase.

I enjoyed learning about the mathematical structure of so many works of literature I have read, 𝘈 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘸 being one!

I never even considered how mathematically improbable is the currency in 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

My TBR grew exponentially (I’m not going to prove that mathematically) after reading this book. A helpful appendix of all the works of literature mentioned is included.

My high school student, a lover of literature who is destined for a STEM career, is currently devouring this book.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Upon a Prime goes deep into math and storytelling. The blurb promised "laugh-out-loud funny" and I must admit my skepticism, but I did laugh out loud, and tear up, and want to get "a bigger bookcase." I haven't studied mathematics since high school, and I tracked along quite well. Hart explores George Eliot, Lewis Carroll, Alice Munro, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Herman Melville, and much more. Reading Once Upon a Prime gave me a deeper appreciation for some books I've already read and a hunger to read (or re-read) more. I think I may need to give Alice's Adventures in Wonderland another try, though I'm willing to let my one reading of Moby-dick stand. (To me as a crafter--a cycloid is a scallop. Haha.) Hart has a conversational style of writing, and her passions for both math and literature is contagious. It makes me wonder if we can do better with storytelling in childhood math education than nonsensical story problems.

My husband (a math major) requested this as a gift, so I read it before giving it to him. I Cannot WAIT to talk about it with him. Joke's on me for reading it beforehand and not being able to talk with him about it yet. And I will be avidly examining the book list at the end for future gifts!

[Alex Lobko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга про связь математики и литературы в трех частях: про математическую структуру текста, про математические метафоры и про математиков-персонажей.

Первая глава хорошая, хоть и про понятные вещи, а-ля структуры рифм, но уже со второй начинается прямо «огонь»: очень любопытные примеры, даже про знакомые книги, достаточно подробно, чтобы заинтересовать и список чтения на будущее еще больше разрастался, и достаточно по делу.
Моя любимая глава про OULIPO (УЛИПО), движение, придумывающее варианты потенциальной литературы через ограничения.
Есть и промашки, например, 30 страниц детального разжевывания того, что большинство культовых литературных гигантов и миниатюрных существ не могло бы существовать. «Кто бы мог подумать, что математика легко отвлечь».
Но то, что буквально в следующей главе хвалится мой любимчик Нил Стивенсон (и нежно обсмеивается Дэн Браун), все компенсирует ;)

Конечно, много по верхам, но это все же осознанное решение для научпопа, иначе потенциальное пересечение любителей Моби-дика и фракталов может оказаться слишком малым (украл формулировку из одной рецензии).

Написано очень приятным, доверительным тоном (как будто друг зовет шепотом «сышь, чо узнал»). Веришь в большую любовь к обоим предметам повествования.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Sarah Hart examines the connections between mathematics and literature in this book. Once Upon A Prime is a masterful and well researched piece. For example, the book discusses the monetary system in the world of Harry Potter. I don’t know why, but the fact that the money didn’t make sense irritated me when I was a child.

Hart covers other stories like Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and the Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Jenna King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun examination of the intersection between mathematics & literature, and at how humans think and imagine in patterns

[Savanna Copeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good casual (by casual I mean not a textbook) math read, would recommend if you want to branch out and read about math if you don’t typically do that sort of thing

[Leonard Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discussion of literature that is obviously mathematics related and literature in which mathematics plays a key but hidden role. Pleasant conversational tone.

Kindle book doesn’t work on Kindle reader or iPhone for this book. Equations are unreadable in their microdot size. iPad works a little better but still ruins the reading experience.

[Jono · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (rounded down). I enjoyed most of this book, and it gave me a whole host of other books I wanted to read too, but I thought the middle third was weak, veering into science not maths (and laboured the point too long). It also felt a bit defensive about mathematicians, which was tiresome and probably unnecessary for the people most likely to read to the end.

[Jenny Mitcham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and unexpectedly interesting!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written to that small set of people who have an interest in both math and literature. I'm guessing a strong interest in one or the other might be enough to get you through but I think you want to have both to really enjoy it as much as I did. There were a couple chapters, or parts of chapters, that were hard for me to get through so I will put them on a shelf for later. My lack of understanding in certain areas didn't affect my enjoyment of the rest. And even if I didn't understand something, the author's sense of humor kept me reading.

I was captivated right away in Chapter 1. The author recalls an old poem that is also an algebra problem. I set up the problem correctly and then went on to screw up the simple algebra. I found my mistake when I came up with a fractional number of bees and knew it couldn't be right so I went back and reworked it and came up with 15 bees. I think I'm right but don't quote me on that.

Talk of poems went on after that. Some of it I liked, some of it I struggled through.

Part 1 also discussed the way some authors set up their books in a unique way using hidden structures. Of note to me was "Hopscotch" which does not read in the normal order. I was also called back to my younger days when I read the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series books which do not read in the normal order.

The second part went into things like numbers as symbols. Many creation stories have symbolic numbers but fairy tales do as well. Also in this section is a chapter about mathematical metaphors.
Apparently there is geometry in Moby-Dick so I may have to suck it up and finally read that giant tome. And speaking of giant tomes, apparently War and Peace has mathematical metaphors. (I didn't read that one either.)

But my favorite was Part 3: Mathematics Becomes the Story. This is where my imagination gets to run along with math at the steering wheel.

It starts off strong in Chapter 8 with a discussion of Flatland where you are asked to imagine greater and greater dimensions. Then a discussion of fractals in Jurassic Park (another one I didn't read because like everybody, I saw the movie and thought that was good enough). You are even invited to doodle your own fractal and the author will teach you how. Then a discussion of ciphers ends with the author putting her own little cipher at the end of the chapter. Chapter 8 was my favorite chapter.

In Chapter 9, there is a discussion of an infinite library with a finite number of books that extends forever. This is from the story "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges which the author tells us to go out and read immediately. Since she didn't say that about all the other books in her list, I'm going to take this command quite seriously. I admit I'm excited to get my hands on it. I didn't even know it existed but if it does exist, it is in the infinite library.

The last Chapter gives a nod to my favorite science fiction writer, Asimov, which I was happy to see even if it was brief. Of course, math, or psychohistory, is the subject of "Foundation" with Hari Seldon in the driver's seat.

I adored this book. I'm glad I have my own copy of it, not only because I wrote in the margins but also because there is a big list of the above titles and more at the end of the book. Some I have read but many I haven't and I'm really excited to start working my way through them while looking for the math inside the pages.

[Christel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is written with such an overwhelming enthusiasm that you cannot but feel happy reading it :)

[Becky Ginther · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has had a love of both literature and math, I was definitely intrigued by this book. I wasn't sure what I wanted to study in college and started taking courses in both (ended up with degree in English lit and a minor in Math). I also became president of the school's Math Society my senior year, and I loved to tease them that they had an English major as their president.

And that felt unusual because math and lit seem so different... but there really are some great and interesting connections between them. I enjoyed much of this book, although having not really studied any math in almost 15 years some of it went over my head just a little. My favorite sections were the ones about the links between poetry and math, and fractals.

I listened to it on audiobook, and I think it would have been easier to grasp some of it if I had been reading it instead - though the author narrated it herself and I thought she did a great job.