We may have said a lot of goodbyes. We have lost a lot of people we love and people who had a huge impact in our lives. They have touched us in the most significant way that when they are gone, we just feel so lost. However, what this book “A Certain Ambiguity” taught me aside from some mathematical principles is that everything happens for a reason. Some people are gone in our lives for us to realize our purpose, just like how it went for Ravi Kapoor.
The
book written by Suri and Singh Bal is sophisticated and innovative in such a
way that they included newspaper excerpts, dialogues and diary entries for the
readers to feel like they are just taking a peek into the real world. They have
focused into two things: revealing the challenges in life of Ravi’s
grandfather, Vijay, and exposing the readers into the Ravi’s learning on
Infinity when he entered Stanford. This made the book seem more of a novel with
mathematical principles rather than a math book with some plot twist in it.
Moreover,
readers can easily relate to this book in so many ways. I also have lost my
grandfather who had a great contribution into my appreciation for mathematics.
Some parts of the book just hit the soft spot of its reader. Also, as a college
student, I can relate to the struggles faced by Ravi when he entered Standford.
This adds to the ingredients that make this book an interesting.
In
addition to this, the book is rich in imagery. It brings the reader to the path
taken by Ravi. In the start, for example, the book is opened with a flashback
experienced by Ravi to the moment wherein his grandfather gave him a problem to
solve using his calculator. The next day, his grandfather died. This made a gap
in Ravi’s heart which is continually filled as he realizes the importance of
his grandfather in his life.
This
realization was fueled up as he entered Stanford with a degree in Economics. He
took a course entitled “Thinking about infinity” where he met his professor
named Nico. Nico also has the same specialization with Ravi’s grandfather. One
day, Nico found a paper with a footnote indicating that Ravi’s grandfather
founded most of the ideas present in the paper which were all written when he
was in New Jersey jail.
Then,
the story starts to slowly reveal the mathematical aspect of the book in two
ways. First, this was done through the Nico’s lectures in his class about the
importance of infinity. Second is through retracing the works of Ravi’s
grandfather about the nature of mathematics which was investigated by a judge.
Nico’s
lectures focused on the basic set theory concept and its relation to the
Continuum Hypothesis. I really liked how the professor explained the topic to
his students in this part. He also used good examples and questions that even
readers would be analyzing. On the other hand, the works of Ravi’s grandfather
is focused on Euclidean and Non-Euclidian Geometry. These were highlighted in
Vijay’s conversation with the judge named Judge Taylor.
There
were five postulates mentioned in the book that supports the existence of the Euclidean
and the Non-Euclidean geometry. Based on the book, the first postulate states
that it is possible to draw a straight line from any point to any point. The
second postulate states that it is possible to draw a finite straight line
continuously in a straight line. The third postulate states that it is possible
to describe any circle with a center and a radius. The fourth states that all
right angles are equal to one another. These four supports the Euclidian
geometry. The fifth postulate states that if
a straight line that falls on two straight lines makes the interior angles on
the same side less than two right angles, the two straight lines will meet on
that side on which the angles are less than the two right angles. This supports the Non-Euclidean geometry.
It’s
amazing how these postulates were used to contradict and prove the existence of
the Euclidean and Non-Euclidean geometry. Most especially, I was amazed at how
the authors were able to incorporate those ideas in the story. It adds to the
substance in the book so that at the end of the day, a new knowledge could be
learned by the readers. Moreover, the book also contains some information on
some famous mathematicians such as Zeno, Galileo, Bhaskara, Pythagoras, Cantor,
Baruch, Euclid, Hilbert and Riemann. Some of these mathematicians are not
familiar to me but through the book I was able to know them better.
In
totality, the book was very compelling. I am still in awe at how the words in
the conversation of Vijay and the judge went:
”Every
path is there to be taken or ignored, and none is ordained… We are free to chart
our course, free to pursue our passions, and free to create the axioms of our
lives.”
Just as how Ravi was able to realize his
real passion is as he decided to switch to a mathematically related, my mind as
a reader was opened up to the fact that there are paths laid on to us and we
are free to choose. We have given freedom and we can choose to be happy. Just
like Ravi, we may have said a few goodbyes to the people that we love. However,
we must never forget that in every goodbye, there is a hello. Hello to new
people who could possibly change your life forever! Hello to a fresh start!
Hello to a new beginning!
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