The Floer Jungle: Charting the Development of a Theory

“The Floer Jungle is a first-hand account of the birth of a new mathematical field, and at the same time a touching memorial to its creator—both depicted with a richness and complexity that is far too often absent in our textbooks and papers.”
—Akshay Venkatesh, Institute for Advanced Study

“The subject of symplectic mathematics, a modern development of classical mechanics, was completely transformed by the development of Floer theory. The ideas connect even long-standing problems like the three-body problem with modern developments in topology—I haven’t been to a seminar in the subject which did not use it as a tool. The Floer Jungle explains this development, connects it with the tragic personal life of Andreas Floer, and gives clues about how the mathematical community reacts to new developments. There are very few books in mathematics which do this, despite an extensive literature of this sort in other disciplines. It is particularly timely, as many of the players (myself included) are still around to report on their memories.”
—Karen Uhlenbeck, University of Texas at Austin and Institute for Advanced Study

Genius at Play, The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway

“[A] virtuoso juggling of narrative speeds, reminiscences, implausible digressions and long passages of precise, comprehensible mathematics.”
—Michael Harris, Nature

“Makes you laugh with surprise.”
—Jordan Ellenberg, The Wall Street Journal

“Genius at Play is a portrait of one creative genius by another. Absolutely brilliant.”
—Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

“A delightful metabiography—playful indeed—of a brilliant iconoclast.”
—James Gleick, author of The Information and Time Travel

“It’s a riveting read, and you don’t need to be a mathematician to enjoy it.”
—Sir Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal

“Roberts is ingenious… in bringing this unpredictable, unmanageable, impossibly brilliant mathematician to life in this vivid and intimate portrayal.”
—Gary Antonick, The New York Times

CHECK IT OUT: Conway’s Game of Life Exploratorium, by Chris Rowett and Dave Greene

King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry

“There is no substitute for Coxeter, and no substitute for this long-overdue treatment of his life.”
—Jordan Ellenberg, Washington Post

“Siobhan Roberts has achieved something extraordinary with this book, a paean to a geometer and all geometry. It tells a brave, compelling story. It comprehends a whole universe—our universe—of kaleidoscopes and crystals, groups and symmetry, bicycles and snowflakes, music and movement. It is lucid, beautiful, and exalting,”
—James Gleick, author of Chaos

“King of Infinite Space is part biography, part scientific history, part epic. It offers poignant looks into Coxeter’s soul.”
—Jeffrey Rosenthal, Globe and Mail

“An elegant biography of an elegant man.”
—John Horton Conway, John von Neumann Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University

Wind Wizard: Alan G. Davenport and the Art of Wind Engineering

“An unlikely gem.”
—Allan McRobie, Nature

“A winning, enlightening investigation into wind engineering and the man who made the airwaves speak.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred)