Biography as memoir. The author writes a biography os Simone Weil and her brother Andre and doing so reflects on her own interest in math and person philosophy. There is little actual grappling with math or theorems - although a few are stated no underlying clarification is added. Andre’s time at the institute for advanced study is made more interesting by my current reading about Oppenheimer.
The trekking back and forth between Europe and the US is intriguing as it happened in the 40s and 50s when that was more of a chore. To some extent I am inspired to learn more about Simone’s writing and insights. ( )

Woven from several strands: André Weil’s life as a professional exile following his arrest in Finland at the beginning of WWII, when his mathematics notebooks were mistaken for some kind of espionage code; his sister Simone’s attraction to suffering and her search for ‘meaning in affliction;’ and Olsson’s own youthful attraction to the abstract mysteries of algebra. Olsson has a good eye for the eccentric bits (a young cadet arrives in the interrogation room to paint the windowsill blue), but she never gets around to giving us those Conjectures.

Baxter Pinot Brune Brown Ale
Arcpoint Variance V IPA

A fantastic and unique short book. Ostensibly about the mathematician -philosopher sibling pair, Andre and Simone Weil, the book is really more a set of vignettes about the joy of solitary study of an abstract subject like mathematics, relationships, aging, and more. A joy to read. Highly recommended! ( )