Mathematical People: Profiles and Interviews

by Donald J. Albers

This unique collection contains extensive and in-depth interviews with mathematicians who have shaped the field of mathematics in the twentieth century. Collected by two mathematicians respected in the community for their skill in communicating mathematical topics to a broader audience, the book is also rich with photographs and includes an introduction by Philip J. Davis.

Genres: Mathematics, Biography

372 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[Gwern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moved to gwern.net.

[So Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of interviews with 20th century mathematicians, with big names including Conway, Erdos, Knuth, Mandelbrot (among others). Nice entries on pioneering women mathematicians as well (Mina Rees and Olga Taussky-Todd). Last but not least is a nonmathematician, but one who has written definitive biographies on Hilbert and Courant (i.e. Constance Reid).

The core message of the book is this: contrary to popular stereotype, mathematicians are mostly everyday people, albeit with their quirks. As the authors themselves state:

We hope through the interviews and profiles included in this volume to dispel, at least in part, this notion. . . . We hope to demonstrate that mathematicians are a remarkably diverse group with a wide range of intellectual interests and a full spectrum of personalities. It is true that mathematics does require great concentration and intellectual power of a rather special type, so the creative mathematician may display a single-mindedness beyond that observed in a wider population, but those who persist through the present volume will come to see, we believe, that mathematicians are still an interesting bunch. They may share more traits with artists than with experimental scientists. We leave it to the reader to judge.

(page xv)

Recommended for those with affinities to math, but interested in the human side of it.