Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The 18 eminent mathematicians profiled in these engaging, chatty interviews with the San Francisco Bay Area-based editors (Albers teaches math at Menlo College; Alexanderson teaches math at Santa Clara University; Reid is a freelance writer) show great variety in their personalities, backgrounds and outside interests. While some were near-prodigies, George Dantzig, ``father of linear programming,'' almost flunked junior high school algebra. This sequel to Mathematical People contains stories about Lucien Le Cam's use of his statistical expertise to help a medical team cure his daughter of cancer and human rights activist Lipman Bers's escape from Russian-occupied Latvia. Interviews with Cathleen Morawetz, Julia Robinson and Mary Ellen Rudin attest to the social forces women must overcome in becoming mathematicians. All the interviewees testify to moments when they were first smitten by the elegance and beauty of mathematics. Many speak of their work as ``fun.'' Photos. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
