Book Review: Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture

Reviewing the 1992 novel 'Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture' by Greek writer Apostolos Doxiadis, JUSTICE YATINDRA SINGH writes about why the book, dealing with mathematical problems and the recent history of mathematics, is a compelling read and would be enjoyed by anyone.

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Mathematics is the purest of all sciences and is the ultimate truth. It was rightly described in the Vedanga Jyotisha, one of the earliest known Indian texts on astronomy, written around 1350 BC, thus:

यथा शिखा मयूराणां नागानां मण्यो यथा।

तथा वेदाङ्गशास्त्राणां गणितं मूर्धनि स्थितम्।।

("As the crest occupies the top position on a peacock and the jewel on a serpent; Mathematics is on top position among all the Vedangs and scriptures.")

Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture, an international bestseller by the Greek author Apostolos Doxiadis,  is about the romance of mathematics.

Goldbach's Conjecture

Christian Goldbach (March 18, 1690 – November 20, 1764) was an eighteenth-century German mathematician.  On 7^th June 1742, he wrote a letter to fellow German mathematician Leonhard Euler postulating an interesting phenomenon regarding even numbers (a number divisible by two), without offering proof: it was his conjecture.