The Mathematician

by Jacob E. Goodman

Professor Claus Eisenstadt, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and a brilliant mathematician, disappears from Columbia University one day. After the police have given up the search, mathematics graduate student Judy Carter, compelled to solve puzzling problems—both in science and in real life—becomes intrigued with his sudden disappearance. As she tries to learn more about the whereabouts and welfare of the professor, Judy begins to suspect his unexpected absence may have something to do with his earlier days in Germany. Judy follows up on some of her theories about Professor Eisenstadt’s mysterious disappearance, but she is forced to give up without a solution.

Years later, Judy has herself become a professor. While on sabbatical in Germany, she decides to look further into Eisenstadt’s disappearance, and begins to understand more about him, but is unable to find the answer to the puzzle of his vanishing. When Judy returns home to the US, she finds a thick envelope waiting for her, which contains an unusual request. She is surprised to find that it concerns Eisenstadt. Could this unexpected package be the link that helps Judy finally learn what happened to Claus and why he vanished?

As the story unfolds, the novel travels between student days in prewar Germany and postwar America, which were impacted by prewar anti-Semitism and postwar guilt. The reader is allowed a glimpse into the work of scientific researchers and the interplay of that work with their personal lives.

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2023

About the author

Jacob Eli Goodman was a geometer and music composer. He was Professor Emeritus at the City College of New York. He and his collaborator, Richard M. Pollack, were known for developing problems in discrete geometry, specifically in the study of arrangements of pseudolines and oriented matroids. He and Pollack were the founding editors of the journal Discrete & Computational Geometry.

Goodman also developed the "pancake problem," which he published under the pseudonym Harry Dweighter. He co-edited the book "Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry."

Reviews

[Marla Nayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Claus Eisenstadt, a refugee from Nazi Germany, is a brilliant mathematician working at Columbia. He tells everyone, and apparently has evidence, that despite his name his family is Aryan, not Jewish. He works at Columbia university for many years. Then, he disappears in 1967, and police can find nothing to help them figure out what happened to him. In the 1990s another professor, Judy, while on sabbatical in Germany, decides to look into his disappearance. The novel jumps back and forth between a description of Eisenstadt’s earlier life, escape from Germany, and work at Columbia, and Judy’s search for information on his life and disappearance. About 2/3 of the way through the book I figured out how he disappeared, but not where he went or the rest of his life. That comes out much later.

The author held a PhD in mathematics and worked as a professor in this field. He was the co-editor of three editions of the Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry, first published in 1997. I learned a lot about the various fields of mathematics through reading this book, which was quite interesting.

The mystery of Eisenstadt’s disappearance is revealed right at the end of the book, with a surprise twist. I enjoyed this book.