The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel - Rilegato

Bloch, W. L.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0195334574 ISBN 13: 9780195334579

Casa editrice: OUP USA, 2008

Riassunto

The Library of Babel is arguably Jorge Luis Borges' best known story-memorialized along with Borges on an Argentine postage stamp. Now, in The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel, William Goldbloom Bloch takes readers on a fascinating tour of the mathematical ideas hidden within one of the classic works of modern literature.
Written in the vein of Douglas R. Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize-winning Gödel, Escher, Bach, this original and imaginative book sheds light on one of Borges' most complex, richly layered works. Bloch begins each chapter with a mathematical idea-combinatorics, topology, geometry, information theory-followed by examples and illustrations that put flesh on the theoretical bones. In this way, he provides many fascinating insights into Borges' Library. He explains, for instance, a straightforward way to calculate how many books are in the Library-an easily notated but literally unimaginable number-and also shows that, if each book were the size of a grain of sand, the entire universe could only hold a fraction of the books in the Library. Indeed, if each book were the size of a proton, our universe would still not be big enough to hold anywhere near all the books.
Given Borges' well-known affection for mathematics, this exploration of the story through the eyes of a humanistic mathematician makes a unique and important contribution to the body of Borgesian criticism. Bloch not only illuminates one of the great short stories of modern literature but also exposes the reader-including those more inclined to the literary world-to many intriguing and entrancing mathematical ideas.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

William Goldbloom Bloch is Professor of Mathematics at Wheaton College.

Contenuti:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Combinatorics: Contemplating Variations of the 23 Letter
• Topology and Cosmology: The Universe (Which Others Call the Library)
• Information Theory: Cataloging the Collection
• Geometry and Graph Theory: Ambiguity and Access
• Real Analysis: The Book of Sand
• More Combinatorics: Disorderings into Order
• A Homomorphism: Structure into Meaning
• Critical Points
• Openings
• Acknowledgements
• Appendix IThe Logos of Logarithms
• Appendix IIFlat-Out Disoriented
• Appendix IIIPeeling the 3-Sphere
• Appendix IVA Labyrinth, not a Maze
• Appendix VAn Example of the Ars Combinatoria
• Bibliography

Su questa edizione

• Editore: OUP USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0195334574
• ISBN 13: 9780195334579
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 224