[HN Gopher] Mathematical Fiction
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       Mathematical Fiction
        
       Author : the-mitr
       Score  : 57 points
       Date   : 2025-05-25 12:38 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (kasmana.people.charleston.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (kasmana.people.charleston.edu)
        
       | pat_springleaf wrote:
       | This is a really cool list, if not a little impenetrable if you
       | aren't familiar with an artists work -- does anyone have a work
       | that they would recommend, in particular a novel?
        
         | stiiv wrote:
         | Flatland is a classic, though it's almost a pamphlet. While you
         | asked for a novel, I can't resist recommending the short
         | fiction of Borges.
        
       | BeetleB wrote:
       | Foundation (Asimov)? I don't think it merits a mention here. Or
       | rather, if it should be included, so should many, many more
       | entries.
        
         | riffraff wrote:
         | Well, psychohistory is presented as a sort of mathematics for
         | predicting the future, I think it fits the theme.
         | 
         | Likewise, I'm not sure it's on the list, but starship troopers
         | has a kind of mathematics for government (the military
         | dictatorship with citizen-by-merit is provably optimal, not
         | just a random system).
         | 
         | It fictionalized "math" but still fits the generic idea, IMHO.
        
         | burkaman wrote:
         | "many, many more entries" are included. Moby Dick and War and
         | Peace are in here.
        
       | jhallenworld wrote:
       | I went looking for Rudy Rucker on this list, and am satisfied.
       | He's wild, highly recommend. Enjoy some merge with someone: "the
       | drug "merge" is a key element in the novel "Wetware". Merge is a
       | drug that causes users to soften into a puddle, experience
       | oneness with the universe, and fuse conscious entities. "
        
       | riffraff wrote:
       | My reading anthology book in primary school had Asimov's "The
       | feeling of power". I was glad to see it was already in this list.
        
       | omoikane wrote:
       | For Japanese readers, I have been following "Hamamura Nagisa no
       | Keisan Nooto" (Hamamura Nagisa's Calculation Notes), which is a
       | light novel mystery series. Most chapters contain some crime by a
       | math-minded terrorist, and the solutions to the mysteries always
       | involve math. It covers a wide range of topics from simple
       | fractions to Fermat's Last Theorem. It's a wonderful series for
       | people who like math.
       | 
       | https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%9C%E6%9D%91%E6%B8%9A%E3...
       | 
       | English summaries for each volume:
       | https://uguu.org/words/math.html
        
       | zabzonk wrote:
       | I remember way back when (like about 50 or so years ago) about a
       | crew of maths guys flying a ship through something like tensor
       | space - an actualisation of maths. I cannot for the life of me
       | (or google) remember what it was called or who it was by. Might
       | be on that web page, but too difficult to navigate for me!
        
         | Probablism wrote:
         | Neverness by David Zindell? Not quite 50 years though.
        
           | zabzonk wrote:
           | I know what you mean, but that's not it - this was a short
           | story.
        
       | A_D_E_P_T wrote:
       | Thanks to this link I just bought a lot of books.
       | 
       | I'd note: Greg Egan is pretty well (if not completely)
       | represented, but how is _Permutation City_ not on the list?!
       | 
       | Also: _Neverness_ by David Zindell is extremely good. Almost
       | certainly the best SF work of its decade. Very underrated.
        
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       (page generated 2025-05-28 23:00 UTC)