The Mystery of the Aleph

Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity

By: Amir D. Aczel

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

"An engaging, pellucid explanation of the mathematical understanding of infinity, enlivened by a historical gloss on age-old affinities..." - Washington Post Book World

Toward the end of the 19th century, one of the most brilliant mathematicians in history languished in an asylum. His greatest accomplishment, the result of a series of extraordinary leaps of insight, was his pioneering understanding of the nature of infinity.

From the acclaimed author of God's Equation comes The Mystery of the Aleph, the story of Georg Cantor: how he came to his theories and the reverberations of his pioneering work, the consequences of which will shape our world for the foreseeable future. The mindtwisting, deeply philosophical work of Cantor has its roots in ancient Greek mathematics and Jewish numerology as found in the mystical work known as the Kabbalah. Cantor's theory of the infinite is famous for its many seeming contradictions; for example, we can prove that in all time there are as many years as days, that there are as many points on a one-inch line as on a one-mile line.

While the inspiration for Cantor's mind-twisting genius lies in the very origins of mathematics, its meaning is still being interpreted. Only in 1947 did Kurt Godel prove that Cantor's Continuum Hypothesis is independent of the rest of mathematics - and that the foundations of mathematics itself are therefore shaky.

©2001 by Amir D. Aczel (P)2001 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Mr. Aczel is very good at portraying the essences of the thoughts and lives of that quirky class of geniuses known as mathematicians". (The New York Times Book Review)

Transcendental!

This book combines religious philosophy and mathematical philosophy, if you like that you should get it.

entertaining and insightful

covers the notions of infinity throughout history. for my personal taste, a little less content on Cantor's life would have been OK...

Great Book on Fascinating Subject

This is an excellent book bringing a difficult, but vastly important, subject of mathematics to non-mathematicians. While some of Kantor’s simpler proofs (that the reals have larger infinity than the integers, or the rationals) are well described, the author also presents the more difficult concepts such as power sets, the continuum hypotheses, etc. I could not think of better ways to do this than what Aczel does. He writes extraordinarily well for the non-mathematician.

The narrator is easy to listen to, has a fine voice, and one senses that he may be interested in the material himself, which really helps in going through the book. However, I have one criticism. If a narrator is to do a professional job of reading a book with numerous German names, expressions, and place names, he should be required to work on German pronunciation and diction. To hear these repeatedly mispronounced takes away some of the enjoyment the book. Each time this occurs, there is that moment when the listener is startled, has to consciously overlook the error, and readjust to get back to the narrative. When presenting foreign language productions, operas and orchestras hire diction coaches for their performers. I suggest that Audible do likewise.

definitely for mathematicians

I was expecting more personal history and less math but maybe the two can't be separated in this story. I had to quit listening to the book about half way through because I was so lost in the discussion of rational and irrational numbers, continuums, and so may other things I didn't have a clue about. The narrartor did a good job, however, considering the nature of the subject.

Solid Amir

Amir D. Aczel is an excellent writer on scientific and mathematical topics. I have come to expect readable and understandable expositions, and The Mystery of the Aleph is no exception.

The highest tribute that I can confer upon this work is that I found it helpful in contemplating some issues of Physics and Math that I have been exploring recently.

really worth reading

This was a great story about how the idea of infinity contributed to Cantor's mental decline -- chicken or egg? Some of the theories explained in this book threatened to make my head spin off too. A great read. His book on Einstein is also well worth reading.

Great history of math with some Kaballa nonsense

Loose supernatural nonsense and the book is really good. Overall enjoyed both the text and narration.

interesting book well narrated

This is another fine book by the author. To me the subject matter wasn't quite so interesting as that of Entanglement but still an interesting read. Once again, a superb job by the narrator.
This isn't Shakespeare. It is science and the narrator couldn't have done a better job.

loved it!

great math history story! reminds me of Dr Bob my real analysis prof! narrator has a smooth voice.

A tantalizing glimpse into the unknowable.

What made the experience of listening to The Mystery of the Aleph the most enjoyable?

The subject is fascinating and is written about with compassion and clarity.

What other book might you compare The Mystery of the Aleph to and why?

I haven't found any others comparable yet in the audible library.

Which character – as performed by Henry Leyva – was your favorite?

My favorite character in the reading was Cantor himself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. But I listen to it over and over with pure wonder.