Mathenauts: Tales of Mathematical Wonder

A collection of 23 science fiction short stories, each of which centers on mathematics. Two are by Martin Gardner, and many of the great writers of SF are represented: Isaac Asimov, Gregory Benford, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl. The high point is Norman Kagan’s utterly hilarious “The Mathenauts,” in which only mathematicians can travel through space because space is mathematical – and, conversely, anything mathematical can be reality. An isomorphomechanism is essential equipment. Between them, these tales cover most of the undergraduate mathematics syllabus, though not in examinable form.