Math Porn update

A book has just appeared, which is making waves, and which now occupies pride of place on my night-table:  Love & Math:  The Heart of Hidden Reality, by Edward Frenkel.    Frenkel is the real deal, a professor at Berkeley;  and a quick riffle of the pages of his book  suffice to reassure that this is by no means the sort of tawdry middlebrow popularization of deep topics  which have come to be known (in an extended use of the word) as “porn”.  I’m hoping for a blizzard this weekend, so that I can cozily remain indoors  and read the thing cover to cover.

But in the meantime, let us note, that the category of “math porn”, which is quite exiguous compared with physics porn or psychology porn and so forth, does receive a small contribution, not from the book itself (so far as I can tell so far), but from the title, and more especially, the subtitle -- both of which were presumably chosen by some marketing drone of the publisher, over the strenous and unheeded objections of the virtuous author.

For the book is not about “love and math”;  love of math, perhaps;  but even there, less about love of math than about, well, math: specifically about the area of his own research (the Langlands program).

The subtitle is the real worm-in-the-apple:  “hidden” reality.

Now, we ourselves, in a long series of essays (Theologia mathematica), have presented a Platonist perspective on mathematics, whereby the truths of that discipline are part of the invisibilia that appear in the Creed -- visibilium omnium et invisibilium:  they are Real, but invisible.  But, only in the sense that Ideas in general are invisible -- there’s nothing especially deep or special in their being invisible, any more than glass or air are more precious than gold or water. 

But hidden is a tricky word.  As an adjective, it can mean simply latent (which grammatically comes from an active participle, meaning “(in) hiding”) or non-observable.  But as the past participle of a transitive verb, it suggests that someone has deliberately hidden it -- the Illuminati, no doubt.  

.   It is this kind of “hidden reality” bosh that appeals to the prurience of the public.   And the likelihood is only increased by the fact that, on the evidence of his jacket photo, the author is a freaking dreamboat.   

Brad Pitt’s handsomer and much smarter brother

 (It’s not fair, it’s not fair … )

(... I want to have his baby....)

More of substance, deo volente, when I shall have read the book.

[Update, 23 Nov 2013]  Reading away;  further thoughts here:
http://worldofdrjustice.blogspot.com/2013/11/gradus-ad-parnassum.html

 [Update, 1 Dec 2013]  The book seems to be selling well.  I just tried to order a copy for my son for Christmas, and Amazon says they're out of stock.   Mazel tov, Professor!

~

[Update 10 December 2013]  On Sunday, the New York Times had a well-meaning muddle-headed editorial (““Who Says Math Has to Be Boring?”) about making math fun - fun - fun.  Too depressing to reply to.   But here is an excellent riposte:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/12/10/american_student_pisa_scores_math_has_to_be_at_least_a_little_boring.html