Hartosh Singh Bal

A Certain Ambiguity does an interesting job of trying to answer questions concerning the meaning of life using faith and mathematics. Throughout the work the plot revolves around Ravi, a college student with a deceased grandfather who peaked his interest in mathematics. Interspersed in each chapter are also newspaper segments, meeting transcriptions, and perceived-to-be-authentic historical letters, which help add depth in Ravi’s journey to uncover the secrets of his grandfather’s past. While learning of Baji’s time in prison and his discussions with Judge Taylor, the reader is subjected to philosophical questions --- and the possibility of using mathematics to answer them. There is constant apprehension in both the present storyline and the tidbits from the past concerning how logic, proof, and math can be interpreted as a lens to properly see the universe. The topic of religion and faith are also challenged, especially by the grandfather, which, along with his discourse with Judge Taylor, allowed for their relationship to bloom – with both gaining a better understanding of the mechanics of faith and how each and every person has a different interpretation of it, perhaps through religion or mathematics. The robust plot can, in some ways, be overbearing, especially with the tangential additions of the historical relics. Often enough it seems this book repeats itself or finds its characters arguing the same propositions just using different terms. This book would not exactly be recommended for any reader who isn’t up to par with higher-level math terms, as the topics covered, in respect to math content, can be quite heavy.… (plus d'informations)

I gave this novel three stars because at various points in my journey through it, I was bored, deeply intrigued, infuriated, bored, and mildly fascinated. The novel weaves together several related story lines through which ideas about religion, epistemology, mathematics, and certainty are explored. The principal character of Ravi is likable at first, as a young boy drawn to mathematics much like his grandfather. Unfortunately, the college-student version of Ravi, and the older adult-version who is the assumed narrator, fail to develop the plot in a meaningful way as the book progresses. Ultimately, this book sets itself up for an excellent read without carrying it to a well-defined close.

The story or Ravi is driven by his enrollment in a math/philosophy class at Stanford, where he and a newfound group of friends study the ideas of mathematical proof, certainty, and infinity. Truly, these are some of the more memorable and well-crafted portions of the book. The character of Nico, the professor, is engaging and the mathematical concepts that he teaches were fascinating to ponder. As Ravi, Adin, Nico, and Claire seek to explore the infinite, Ravi is also exploring his grandfather's past life as an imprisoned mathematician in a small New Jersey town. While the two plot threads are directly related and the use of newspaper articles and court transcripts add a unique perspective, the story of the grandfather and Judge Taylor is predictable from the start, yet is dragged on and on and on, with constant interludes from Ravi and the others to marvel at the philosophical implications of mathematics, but which do not actually add any substance.

Ultimately, the novel ends as expected, the Judge, Bauji, and Ravi et al arrive at a "certain ambiguity," or lack of certainty about the meaning of life. Ravi does not take the sensible job at Goldman Sachs, but chooses to study mathematics with Nico. While I enjoyed the mathematical ideas and proofs laid out in the book, as a piece of literature, it was very unsatisfying. It seemed that the authors were trying to cram as many grandiose, meaning-of-life, philosophical insights into the book as they could, when they could have essentially achieved the same goals with 100 fewer pages.… (plus d'informations)

The book "A certain ambiguity" of Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Singh Bal is a mathematical fiction that tries to give answers in basic philosophical questions that every human being is posing, like "What is the meaning of life?", "How shall I find it in order to avoid a meatless and miserable life?" and if I find it, how can I be sure for that it is the right one? This certainty gives a course in our life and all our actions, choices and behavior are a sequence of what we believe for the meaning of our live. By presenting a story within a story of two opposite believers the atheist mathematician who believes in the mathematics and human logic to discover the truth and the meaning of live and the judge who believes in God as source of truth they start from the opposites sides of a distant course with the feeling that they are the owners of the only real truth. In their attempt to understand each other they realize that their ideas are not absolute scientific knowledge and revelation knowledge have no certainty and the only truth that gives a meaning in our life is the Freedom of each individual to choose the starting point in the long course to find out the meaning of life and to avoid to live in a meaningless world. A weakness of the fiction is the extended description of mathematic theories and repetitions in the behavior of the characters, For example all characters have a passion to mathematics and jazz music. But despite of these weaknesses it's a good book and a real pleasure for the lovers of mathematics and philosophical thought.… (plus d'informations)

The two main topics in this novel are set theory and geometry. The mathematics that is presented here is the usual and well known theorems. In Set theory, starting from Zeno’s paradoxes, infinite series, to the theory of sets and the continuum hypothesis. And in geometry, starting from the Pythagoras theorem, Euclid’s axioms and to the development of Non-Euclidean geometry. They are developed parallelly (and in two parallel story lines, one taking place in contemporary times and the other in 1919) showing the independence of continuum hypothesis and Euclid's fifth postulate.

The main goal of the novel seems to be the epistemological implications of the development of theory of infinite sets and Non-Euclidean geometry. It raises some very important questions about mathematical truth but the writers only give a casual overview of mathematics and they do not go deep enough to better understand their implicationson the nature of truth.

For a beginner, this could be a fascinating tour of the basis of mathematics. It does a pretty good job of introducing continuum hypothesis and Non-Euclidean geometry in elementary terms. For someone already familiar with the mathematics and philosophy dealt with in this book and its historical basis, there isn't much here as the story itself isn't very fascinating.

But i did like the last part of the book, the journal entry of the judge where he and Vijay Sahni come to terms with the lack of certainity.… (plus d'informations)