Prime Obsession
Encyclopedia
Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics (2003) is a historical book on mathematics by John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire is a British-American writer. His columns in National Review and cover a broad range of political-cultural topics, including immigration, China, history, mathematics, and race. Derbyshire's 1996 novel, Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, was a New York Times "Notable Book of the...

, detailing the history of the Riemann hypothesis
Riemann hypothesis
In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis, proposed by , is a conjecture about the location of the zeros of the Riemann zeta function which states that all non-trivial zeros have real part 1/2...

, named for Bernhard Riemann
Bernhard Riemann
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann was an influential German mathematician who made lasting contributions to analysis and differential geometry, some of them enabling the later development of general relativity....

, and some of its applications. It is written for a popular audience, so even though it includes college-level mathematics, rigorous proofs are not provided, and much is taken on faith. Much historical background is provided, starting from the work of Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics.Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum...

 and continuing well into the twentieth century.

The book is written such that even-numbered chapters present historical elements related to the development of the conjecture, and odd-numbered chapters deal with the mathematical and technical aspects.

The book was awarded the Mathematical Association of America
Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...

's inaugural Euler Book Prize
Euler Book Prize
The Euler Book Prize is an award named after Leonhard Euler and given annually at the Joint Mathematics Meetings by the Mathematical Association of America to an outstanding book in mathematics that is likely to improve the public view of the field....

.

External links

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