Alex Bellos
author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland and Alex Through the Looking-Glass
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Alex Bellos
“Closing the Gap is an excellent exposition of the study of prime numbers. Not only do we learn about the history of this area since the Greeks, but the book is the first aimed at a lay readership that provides insight into recent breakthroughs. Vicky Neale's passion in the subject is contagious and I enjoyed how she weaves together the mathematics with background on how mathematicians now work, as well as her reflections on what it is like to be a mathematician. This book would be ideal for a curious sixth former wanting to peek ahead at what might lie around the corner if they are considering studying mathematics at a higher level.” (from Amazon)
by Vicky Neale·You?
by Vicky Neale·You?
In 2013, a little known mathematician in his late 50s stunned the mathematical community with a breakthrough on an age-old problem about prime numbers. Since then, there has been further dramatic progress on the problem, thanks to the efforts of a large-scale online collaborative effort of a type that would have been unthinkable in mathematics a couple of decades ago, and the insight and creativity of a young mathematician at the start of his career. Prime numbers have intrigued, inspired and infuriated mathematicians for millennia. Every school student studies prime numbers and can appreciate their beauty, and yet mathematicians' difficulty with answering some seemingly simple questions about them reveals the depth and subtlety of prime numbers. Vicky Neale charts the recent progress towards proving the famous Twin Primes Conjecture, and the very different ways in which the breakthroughs have been made: a solo mathematician working in isolation and obscurity, and a large collaboration that is more public than any previous collaborative effort in mathematics and that reveals much about how mathematicians go about their work. Interleaved with this story are highlights from a significantly older tale, going back two thousand years and more, of mathematicians' efforts to comprehend the beauty and unlock the mysteries of the prime numbers.