The Art of the Infinite

The Pleasures of Mathematics

By: Robert Kaplan, Ellen Kaplan

Narrated by: Ray Chase

A witty, conversational, and accessible tour of math’s profoundest mysteries.

Mathematical symbols, for mathematicians, store worlds of meaning, leap continents and centuries. But we need not master symbols to grasp the magnificent abstractions they represent, and to which all art aspires. Through language, anyone can come to delight in the works of mathematical art, which are among our kind’s greatest glories.

Taking the concept of infinity, in its countless guises, as a starting point and a helpful touchstone, the founders of Harvard’s pioneering Math Circle program Robert and Ellen Kaplan guide us through the “Republic of Numbers,” where we meet both its upstanding citizens and its more shadowy dwellers, explore realms where only the imagination can go, and grapple with math’s most profound uncertainties, including the question of truth itself—do we discover mathematical principles, or invent them?©2004 Robert Kaplan (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Anyone interested in a serious introduction to mathematics will delight in this volume. The Kaplans' background in languages and linguistics inclines them to a depth of literary allusion that few writers in any technical field can match.

A patient reader who loves thinking about thinking will be rewarded by the book's end; by the final pages, he or she will have personally experienced, via these diagrams and problems, many of the great discoveries in mathematics.

Very enjoyable reading.... Related in a cheerful conversational tone with frequent allusions to, and quotations from, many other fields of knowledge, including literature, history, and philosophy.... This volume should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers interested in learning more about the beauty of mathematics.”