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The French Mathematician is a fictional memoir of Evariste Galois, the mathematical genius who made innovations in algebra before his untimely death in 1832. Galois narrates the book, describing how he sought solace in "the order and certainty of geometry" during the social and political upheaval in France at the time. The book chronicles his adolescence, his growth as a mathematician, his political awakening, and his death in a duel. Tom Petsinis teaches math at a university in Australia, and this is the first of his books to be published in the United States. The bare outline of Petsinis's book is interesting, but unfortunately The French Mathematician is somewhat overburdened with flowery language and hallucinatory dream sequences. When Galois works hard on a math problem, he tends to fall into a reverie, like this: "My heart was now beating faster than usual. No longer Evariste Galois, I am impersonal, at one with the eternal mind responsible for mathematics, impelled forward to discover the mystery at the center of the labyrinth.But just as the solution is within reach, I am distracted by the scent of chamomile." A scantily clad temptress interrupts the young genius's reverie during this hallucination and several others. Even though Galois struggles to separate himself from the distractions of the material world, a love affair ultimately brings on his demise.Evariste Galois was probably a fascinating, difficult person, but the budding mathematician Petsinis describes in this book is not a very likable or interesting character--he's a sort of humorless and bitter teen. --Jill Marquis Book Description
While growing up in revolutionary France, Evariste Galois immersed himself in the study of mathematics, a pursuit that allowed him a welcome glimpse of order at a time when chaos consumed his country. Arrogant, ambitious, and brilliant, Galois dreamed of solving the quintic, a complex equation that had baffled many talented mathematicians before him--but after his father's mysterious death, he devoted himself to Republican politics with the same fervent energy he had applied to his mathematical studies. Rich in historical detail and bursting with intellectual passion, this captivating novel describes a genius's valiant quest for truth--in a turbulent and uncertain era that in many ways mirrors the one in which we live today.

"An engaging historical novel."-- Kirkus Reviews

"In this remarkable novel, Petsinis resurrects a young, overemotional, impetuous, and headstrong genius whose personal failures read like a Hugo novel but whose voice resonates more clearly now with the passage of time."-- Booklist

"Draws a vivid picture of post-Napoleon France....Petsinis makes mathematical passion accessible...a fine account of revolutionary France and a look into a mind that made great discoveries."-- The Stranger (Seattle, WA) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Galois, the man --
-- but almost nothing of Galois the mathematician.

Galois founded a branch of math that still bears his name, the study of Galois fields. They're in use everywhere today, from the nearest cell phone or DVD to the most distant interplanetary probe. But the book barely mentions his mathematical achievements and certainly doesn't describe them, so let's move along.

Galois himself has all the makings of a great romantic figure. It's a matter of historical fact that was mathematical prodigy, with important work published during his short life. It's also true that he died in a duel at age 21, after spending his final night organizing his mathematical notes for posterity. That, plus simply living through a time of intense political upheaval, let alone being involved in it, makes him a character quite able to capture the imagination. Petsinis' imagination has been quite completely captivated.

If anything, there may be a bit too much imagination in this rendering of Galois' life. It's told in the first person, from Galois' own point of view, for which historical justification is thin at best. With so little fact at hand, Petsinis has created a wildly emotional character. In this presentation, Galois seemed quite incapable of moderation in any feeling, driven continually between white-hot intensity and blackest depression. Every page seemed to sizzle with overheated passion for math, for his politics, for his family, or for what he had for breakfast - I was tempted to set an ice pack on the book more than once.

Given all that was obviously fabricated in the cause of a good story, I'm not sure how much to trust any of the other facts that might have historical reality. How much was his mathematical career actually affected by perceptions of his politics? The paranoid view here suggests that the mathematical establishment conspired to create a wall of silence around the firebrand's work during his lifetime. On the whole, inertia and absent-mindedness look like equally good explanations.

I find this a fair (if wildly expressive) novel, a questionable biography, and a disappointing tribute to the mathematician and his mathematical achievements. It is very tempting to romanticize Galois the man, and Petsinis has fallen completely for that temptation.

//wiredweird

Unsympathetic protagonist, but a well-done novel
This fictionalized account of mathematician Evariste Galois's life ushers us directly and intimately into the mind of one whose discoveries continue to influence present-day nuclear physics and genetic engineering.

Having had his early education at home under the tutelage of his literary-minded mother, fifteen-year-old Evariste Galois is sent to Paris to complete his education.A sensitive, arrogant genius, he detests the school, the teachers, and all the other students.Then he is exposed to mathematics for the first time and knows he has found that thing that so few of us ever do: his calling.To Evariste, mathematics is its own reward, a refuge of logic in a chaotic world.It is the key to unlock the secrets of the universe.It is a new and superior religion.He vows he will be the first to solve the quintic, a complex equation that has confounded many great minds.

There are obstacles in his path to this goal.First, he must struggle to suppress his own emerging sexuality.Then, there are the schoolmates who continually goad and harass him to join their Republican groups.Less easily ignored are the grievous social inequities and turmoil surrounding him.When his father dies, an alleged suicide, Evariste at last begins to question his singular devotion to mathematics.

Evariste tells his own story, addressing himself to an imaginary biographer who shadows him throughout the book, experiencing events as he does, all in present tense.While this type of narration can be off-putting, Petsinis utilizes it respectably and often with great drama.He adeptly conveys to the reader information that the self-absorbed and oblivious protagonist himself misses.Petsinis's prose is rich with original and evocative metaphors and similes, and his flair for verb choice gives the story a distinctively realistic feel.

Egotistical and insolent, Evariste is difficult to like at the outset.Yet the reader soon glimpses the fragile and idealistic heart of an insecure young man possessed of remarkable mental gifts.As the story unfolds, the reader comes to understand the noble soul of Evariste Galois -- his consuming desire to give his life to a meaningful cause and to attain immortality through his work.

Genius distracted
There are many types of genius - obscure genius like that of the mathematician Ramanujan which defies analysis, persistent genius like JS Bach who produced an endless stream of inspired work through his long life, blocked genius like that of Einstein who produced a work of unquestionable genius but then - despite his qualities of innovation and analysis - was unable to progress with his next major theory through a significant period of his life (of course, no-one else has yet managed to achieve what he attempted).And the absent-minded professor is such an archetype.But Galois - the subject of this novel - shows himself to be the distracted genius.What could he have achieved if he had been supported properly by his peers - mentored as Ramanujan was?What might he have achieved if he had lived in a more stable political environment?

I enjoyed this novel although at times I thought it was a little long for the story it was telling.And Galois was depicted as such an unattractive self-assured but doubting person. I particularly didn't like his attitude towards people - especially women - as portrayed in the novel, anyway.It seemed that the negative in human behaviour had such a powerful influence that the positive - and surely he must have encountered some - was swept aside.But that would lead to, say, never eating an orange because one day one came across a bad one.

But I do have a philosophical objection to what this novel is - or isn't.Although I was attracted to the idea of dramatising the life of a mathematician because I believe it is imperative that we overcome the cultural acceptance of an inability to do mathematics - even a pride in not being asble to do mathematics - that seems to be all around me.And one step in this direction is to put people back into the subject.Who were Cauchy and Poisson whose names are attached to theorems and processes - and all the others so named.Cauchy and Poisson I mention because they are minor characters in 'The French Mathematician', and I hope Mr Petsinis has not done them an injustice with the bad press he has given them.

In 2000 I attended a seminar in Orlando, Florida.My wife and I took our two young boys (aged 4 and 6) with us so that they could experience some of the States, including, of course, Disneyland and Universal Studios. But later, when we reached NASA, we had to try and assure tham that this was real - not just another theme park.And then NASA undid the good work by showing a 3D movie of life in a space station - in the next century.Reality was confused with make believe again.What does this have to do with 'The French Mathemtician'?Well, it seems to me that the historic novel as this is - it is not history, a biography - is rather like a theme park.It does have elements of the real but these are so buried in the author's imagining that it becomes difficult to determine what is reality, how close the imagining comes to the way things really were.I enjoyed reading Mr Petsinis' realisation of the life of Galois and I hope I have a proper perspective on the man's life, and the times he lived in, but I do have doubts.

One word of advice for people who might read this novel hoping to also get some insights into Evariste Galois's mathematics - there is no mathematics in this novel.

Beautifully Written Novel of a Grand and Tragic Life
I have been interested in the life of Evariste Galois for some years now so I was delighted to find this book.Galois was a brilliant French mathematician, who may or may not have suffered from some form of epilepsy or depression and who, sadly, was killed under mysterious circumstances at the young age of twenty.

Galois' life is cloaked in mystery.We do know that he dreamed of solving the quintic, a complex mathematical equation that had eluded all the best minds of his time.He was the first person to formulate the concept of a finite group theory and then to apply this theory to solve one of the major mathematical problems of his era.

Although Galois seemed to live for pure mathematics and pure mathematics alone, he mysteriously gave up his feverish study to devote most of his time to the revolution that took place in France in 1830.Why Galois, who seemingly had little interest in politics, would brandish a knife and threaten the king, in front of Alexandre Dumas, no less, forms the basis for much of this book.

In this book, we learn of a most important letter Galois wrote on the night of May 29, 1832 to his friend, Auguste Chevalier.What we don't learn about, and what has been lost to history, are Galois' other manuscripts and, most interestingly, his brief love affair with Stéphanie du Motel.We also know that Galois fully expected to die when he did, but what we don't know is why he died or why, precisely, he expected his death to come about exactly as it did.

You certainly don't have to be a mathematician to love this book.You really don't even need much of an interest in math.Galois is such a compelling character that he makes a wonderful character study no matter what he was interested in.This book, aimed at the general reader, does not dwell unnecessarily on mathematical concepts and even when it does, it does so in such a way that it only adds beauty to the narrative and depth to the character of Galois.

Petsinis seems much more interested in capturing the psychological essence of Galois than in cataloging his mathematical and political conquests and, in my opinion, he succeeds wonderfully.This is a beautiful book and one that is a joy to read.Petsinis worked a seeming miracle in weaving the actual events in the life of Galois into his fictional narrative.We are left with nothing but the belief that Petsinis' Galois is the real Galois; that these were his thoughts and his feelings and his reasons for being.

Galois struggled with his emotions for most of his twenty years and Petsinis lets us feel this struggle.For example, Galois, even though being mesmerized by the enchanting du Motel, had an intrinsic aversion to both sex and romance.He was a genius par excellence, yet he was a dreamer as well, and sometimes this dreaminess would cause him to slip from the factual world of the mathematics he loved into a horrific fantasy world of which he wanted no part.

The life of Evariste Galois makes for a very difficult character study, but Petsinis has done a marvelous job.The French Mathematician is one of the most gorgeous books I have ever read and it makes one of the world's true geniuses so much more accessible.Evariste Galois led a grand but tragic life and Petsinis captures it in all its glory in this lyrical and beautifully written book.

A wonderfully written novel, you don't have to like math!
I would highly recommend "The French Mathematician" to fans of math, french history and even those who could care less about math.

This book follows Galois' discovery of his talents in mathematics and theconflicts in France that make him decide if he will follow his genius andstudy math, or join the revoultion for democracy in France.

This bookis well written and is full of wonderful imagery that puts you right inrevolutionary France.I would guess that most people could understand thepassion for democracy that the characters in the book have, but this bookalso helps you understand Galois' passion for mathematics. ... Read more

Book Description
What do the music of J. S. Bach, the basic forces of nature, Rubik's Cube, and the selection of mates have in common? They are all characterized by certain symmetries. Symmetry is the concept that bridges the gap between science and art, between the world of theoretical physics and the everyday world we see around us. Yet the "language" of symmetry--group theory in mathematics--emerged from a most unlikely source: an equation that couldn't be solved.

Over the millennia, mathematicians solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations until they came to what is known as the quintic equation. For several centuries it resisted solution, until two mathematical prodigies independently discovered that it could not be solved by the usual methods, thereby opening the door to group theory. These young geniuses, a Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel and a Frenchman named Evariste Galois, both died tragically. Galois, in fact, spent the night before his fatal duel (at the age of twenty) scribbling another brief summary of his proof, at one point writing in the margin of his notebook "I have no time."

The story of the equation that couldn't be solved is a story of brilliant mathematicians and a fascinating account of how mathematics illuminates a wide variety of disciplines. In this lively, engaging book, Mario Livio shows in an easily accessible way how group theory explains the symmetry and order of both the natural and the human-made worlds.

Download Description
"What do the music of J. S. Bach, the basic forces of nature, Rubik's Cube, and the selection of mates have in common? They are all characterized by certain symmetries. Symmetry is the concept that bridges the gap between science and art, between the world of theoretical physics and the everyday world we see around us. Yet the ""language"" of symmetry--group theory in mathematics--emerged from a most unlikely source: an equation that couldn't be solved. Over the millennia, mathematicians solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations until they came to what is known as the quintic equation. For several centuries it resisted solution, until two mathematical prodigies independently discovered that it could not be solved by the usual methods, thereby opening the door to group theory. These young geniuses, a Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel and a Frenchman named Evariste Galois, both died tragically. Galois, in fact, spent the night before his fatal duel (at the age of twenty) scribbling another brief summary of his proof, at one point writing in the margin of his notebook ""I have no time."" The story of the equation that couldn't be solved is a story of brilliant mathematicians and a fascinating account of how mathematics illuminates a wide variety of disciplines. In this lively, engaging book, Mario Livio shows in an easily accessible way how group theory explains the symmetry and order of both the natural and the human-made worlds." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Many mistakes in the book
Brahmagupta's beautiful solution of the quadratic is ascribed to Diophantus.Linear indeterminate equations were never solved by Diophatus either.That was done by Aryabhatta.That type of errors takes away from other good stuff.Aryabhatta who was the first to solve equations using general methods never mentioned.Author should have run it through an expert prior to publication.

A Fine book with a few permutations
If you are not a mathematician (and I am not), but have an interest in the subject, and a working knowledge of some elementary ideas,this is a terrific book.It has the easiest explanation of symmetry/Galois groups, etc., of any of the books I have tried on the topic -- oh sure, it rambles (as the severe critics here say) -- but try and find some other book on the subject that doesn't immediately drop you far beyond your depth. Livio has a knack for very, very clear explanations and great metaphors (permutations and probability are discussed in terms of finding a mate). I recommend it highly, especially if you can get it with one of Ian Stewart's books on the same topic.

"Don't cry, I need all my courage to die at twenty."...Galois
When I came across this book,I thumbed through it and the figures that jumped out at me were a collection of things,mainly about mathematics,puzzles and other things that interest me. I graduated in Electrical Engineering nearly 50 years ago,and have had a lifelong interest in Mathematical Recreations and Puzzles of all sorts. Granted most of the Mathematics I studied has long since left me mainly because of lack of use.However,the lore,beauty,mystery and fascination of Mathematics has remained. A lot of the Mathematics discussed in this book falls into what I think of as Theoretical rather than Applied Mathematics;and then there's that whole area of Recreational Mathematics.
I have read all the other reviews here,and basically agree with all of them.Taken together they do a good job of telling what the book is about and the Mathematicians who searched for those elusive solutions.In fact,there is so much that could be covered that it would take many volumes to even only scratch the surface.
I don't know if I really "know" much more about Group Theory and Symmetry than when I started ,but I still found it a fascinating read. Kind of like a 5-day tour of Europe-Been there,done that,but do I "know" Europe?
Like I said,other reviews have pretty well covered the book;so I won't repeat.
However; I would like to point out a couple of things.
In chapter 6,the 15-Puzzle is discussed. This is one of the all time greatest puzzles.It has interested me for years. If you would like to know more about it,I strongly recommend you read "The 15 Puzzle" by Jerry Slocum and Dic Sonnefeld.After you see this book ,you'll probably agree it is one of the world's most interestting puzzles;and what a history and legend it has. I posted a review of it here on Amazon on June 6,2006.
If you haven't noticed ,the information on this book has a section "Inside the Book" and in this section under "text stats" ,it shows this book has a Fog Index of 16.2. A search on the net will show how it is calculated. It takes a sample of text,and by looking at the lengths of sentences,number of multiple syllable words,paragraphs,and so forth comes up with a number that shows how difficult it is to comprehend. 16.2 is a fairly high level; and that combined with the theoretical math concepts;there is lttle wonder tht many would find this a fairly difficult book to read.Of course,I'm referring to the Mathematical concepts as opposed to the Biographical information.
The author must have done a tremendous amount of research in writing this book, and in the extensive Notes and References he provides a huge amount of information for the reader who wishes to pursue anything further

A lively read for a wide audience
Symmetry is the topic of Mario Livio's THE EQUATION THAT COULDN'T BE SOLVED: HOW MATHEMATICAL GENIUS DISCOVERED THE LANGUAGE OF SYMMETRY, and will make an involving read for those involved in either science or art. Mathematicians solved algebraic equations until they came to a stop with the quintic equation, which resisted solution until two mathematical geniuses independently discovered it couldn't be solved using the usual methods. This account of 'group theory' explains both the concept of symmetry and the evolution of its foundations, and makes for a lively read for a wide audience from physicists and science majors to students involved in the arts.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

very accessible introduction to group theory and it's history
The equation that couldn't be solved is about the history of group theory. The stories of two of it's early contributors Abel and Galois is told in detail. In addition the author provides an accessible overview of group theory. The specific equation that couldn't be solved is the quintic, which cannot be factored in general. That means that while there are specific examples of polynomials with a factor of x raised to 5 or greater that can be factored there is no general formula like the quadratic eqauation that can factor all quintic or higher polynomials. Although originally used to study factoring, group theory has evolved to be about many other things including the mathematical concept of symmetry. Symmetry arises in many parts of mathematics and science so it is very imporant. I came away from this book with a knowledge of the history of group theory and a smattering of knowledge about group theory and it's applications. I highly recommend this book to those people, like me, who are interested in mathematics and would like to peek under the surface to see what it is all about. ... Read more