Don't be fooled by the title of Imaginary Numbers. Editor William Frucht hasn't devoted a book to explicating the many mysteries of the square root of minus one. What he has done is far more impressive. Pursuing what he envisions as "a truly literary science fiction," Frucht has dared to collect an idiosyncratic company of writers--including such disparate names as Rudy Rucker, Italo Calvino, William Gibson, and Lewis Carroll--into one eclectic, accomplished anthology. The unifying theme of these writings, the short stories, essays, out-loud ponderings, even poetry, is the world of mathematics: every contributor is either "using mathematics to tell stories or using stories to explain mathematics," what Frucht describes as two sides of the same coin.

What Einstein's Dreams did for time, Imaginary Numbers does for mathematics, posing a meditation that manages to be thought provoking, intellectually rigorous, and simply delightful all at the same time. (In fact, an excerpt from Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams appears in the collection.) Some of the titles might be familiar--like Gibson's "Burning Chrome" or Jorge Luis Borges's "Library of Babel"--but the breadth of Frucht's selections ensures that you'll find more than a few undiscovered gems within. --Paul Hughes


From Booklist
With this delightful anthology, Frucht throws a bridge across the chasm separating the "Two Cultures" of science and literature. Such a bridge allows readers to leave behind the tedious arithmetic of textbooks and to discover the imaginative wonderland in which Andrew Marvell contemplates parallel lines as he defines the metaphysics of love, Lewis Carroll pushes a simple cylinder into water to entangle the unwary in a paradox, and Jorge Luis Borges plots out the geometry of the labyrinth to initiate readers into the mystery of infinity. Frucht has marshaled a small army of writers (31), all with the power to breathe life into numbers and figures, so endowing the astral formulas for black holes and the binary logic of computers with a numinous brilliance. These writers of fiction and poetry fuse the scientific and artistic methods for probing truth, kindling the hope Frucht expresses in his preface for a truly "literary science fiction." Those who share his hope will here find rich nourishment for both the analytic intellect and the creative spirit. Bryce Christensen


Book Description
"William Frucht’s wide-ranging compilation of mathematically flavored fiction and poetry is humorous, thought-provoking, and profoundly entertaining." —John Allen Paulos author of Once Upon a Number Features, Works By… Italo Calvin • Lewis Carroll • Jorge Luis Borges Connie Willis • William Gibson • J. G. Ballard Stanislaw Lem • Douglas Hofstadter • Martin Gardner This delightful anthology explores the many ways in which creative writers have worked with mathematical themes—from the marvels of infinity and the peculiarities of space-time to artificial intelligence, black holes, and quantum weirdness. Whether ruminating on the mathematical beauty of music, amusing us with logical absurdities, or conjuring up worlds of elusive, sometimes beautiful or terrifying dimensions, these writers impart a wondrous appreciation of the power, elegance, and ingenuity of mathematical thought.


From the Inside Flap
Imaginary NumbersJorge Luis Borges and the mystery of the infinite Library of BabelAlan Lightman and Einstein’s dreams about entropyRudy Rucker and a machine that plays the music of mathematicsMartin Gardner and a visit to the Church of the Fourth DimensionEnter the wildly inventive world of Imaginary Numbers, in which a marvelous roster of acclaimed writers conjure up magical happenings, fantastic visions, and brainteasing puzzles, all based in some way on mathematical ideas. This delightful anthology offers a connoisseur’s selection of a special brand of creative writing in which the authors play with a vast array of mathematical notions—from the marvels of infinity to the peculiarities of space-time to quantum weirdness, the relativity of time, and the curious attraction of black holes. Enjoy Edwin Abbott Abbott’s wonderfully satirical commentary on the hard life of irregular figures, excerpted from his classic Flatland. Ponder Douglas Hofstadter’s story of the incredible mathematical re-creation of Johann Sebastian Bach playing his famous composition "The Well-Tempered Clavier" and contemplate the art of writing a beautiful fugue. Puzzle over Lewis Carroll’s problem of the flower garden that looks like a serpent with corners. Savor Philip Dick’s poignant tale of the golden man who can run at the speed of light and predict the trajectories of randomly fired bullets. Tease out the implications of Andrew Marvell’s brilliant analogy between love and parallel lines. Become absorbed in william Gibson’s dystopian matrix world that looks like "a 3-D chessboard, infinite and perfectly transparent." As editor William Frucht writes, "Using mathematics to tell stories and using stories to explain mathematics are two sides of the same coin." The work of the creative writers collected here has blazed the trail for a new kind of writing, traveling beyond the dimensions of traditional narrative to create and explore visions of life and its possibilities that capture the beauty and intellectual thrill of seeing our world through mathematical eyes.


From the Back Cover
"William Frucht’s wide-ranging compilation of mathematically flavored fiction and poetry is humorous, thought-provoking, and profoundly entertaining." —John Allen Paulos author of Once Upon a Number Features, Works By… Italo Calvin • Lewis Carroll • Jorge Luis Borges Connie Willis • William Gibson • J. G. Ballard Stanislaw Lem • Douglas Hofstadter • Martin Gardner This delightful anthology explores the many ways in which creative writers have worked with mathematical themes—from the marvels of infinity and the peculiarities of space-time to artificial intelligence, black holes, and quantum weirdness. Whether ruminating on the mathematical beauty of music, amusing us with logical absurdities, or conjuring up worlds of elusive, sometimes beautiful or terrifying dimensions, these writers impart a wondrous appreciation of the power, elegance, and ingenuity of mathematical thought.


About the Author
William Frucht is a senior editor at Basic Books and the coauthor, with Larry Siever, of The New View of Self.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"William Frucht's wide-ranging compilation of mathematically flavored fiction and poetry is humorous, thought-provoking, and profoundly entertaining."--John Allen Paulos, author of Once Upon a Number

This delightful anthology--the first such collection since the publication of Clifton Fadiman's bestselling Fantasia Mathematica and The Mathematical Magpie--explores the many ways in which creative writers have investigated mathematical themes, from the marvels of infinity and the peculiarities of spacetime to artificial intelligence, black holes, and quantum weirdness.

* Features works by Italo Calvino, Lewis Carroll, Jorge Luis Borges, William Gibson, J. G. Ballard, James Dickey, Carl Sandburg, and Alan Lightman * Reintroduces lesser-known but seminal works such as science-fiction writer Connie Willis's cult classic "The Schwartzchild Radius"