A Certain Ambiguity, a mathematical novel, a book written with the
plot of following the steps of Ravi Kapoor in realizing his passion and
interest in the course of mathematics. It was able to cover the topics of
infinity, certainty and faith.
The
plot started with the flashback of Ravi to the time where his Bauji (Hindi for grandfather), gave him
a calculator as a gift on his 12th birthday. From this day on, the
calculator introduced him to the world of numbers, shapes and patterns—mathematics.
His grandfather showed him a trick involving three-digit numbers. With his
fascination, the number that he typed on his calculator, even after the
division of 11, 13 and 7, was retrieved at the end of the process. The next morning, he found out that his bauji
died without fulfilling the promise of giving him another puzzle to be solved.
With his calculator in hand, he found his mother crying over the lifeless body
of his grandfather. From then on, the story showed how the death of his father,
Vijay Sahni, affected the life of Ravi and his interest in mathematics.
With
his grandfather’s money left for his education, Ravi enrolled in Stanford and pursued
a degree in economics. He soon gets acquainted with a professor in mathematics,
Nico Aliprantis, who, later on, had a great influence in Ravi’s rediscovering his
passion in math. Ravi, rather than signing up for his economic subjects, chose
to attend Nico’s subject, “Thinking about Infinity”. There, he found a friend
other than Peter, in the form of Adin and his later love interest Claire.
During the discussions in the class, several topics such as Zeno’s argument,
Cantor’s theory and Continuum Hypothesis were covered. The good thing about
this book is that through every situation, mathematics is always mentioned.
Also, the way of explaining such complex theorems and concepts were surprisingly
understandable and can be easily comprehended. This may be due to the delivery
of the characters and how they can connect it with several examples that can be
easily related to.
At one point in the story, Ravi discovered
that his late bauji was imprisoned
for some reason in New Jersey, USA in 1919. With his great curiosity and
disbelief that his great grandfather can be involved in such event, led him to
investigate the reasons behind how Sahni was in that circumstance. He sooner
found out, with the help of Claire’s mother, that it was because of Sahni’s view
over the religious belief of Christianity that, according to the people of New
Jersey, was an act against the Blasphemy Law of the state. He pointed out, as
what Ravi read in some documents recording the conversation of Judge Taylor and
his grandfather, that religion is an illogical concept of belief since there is
no solid proof of what the people believe in. He related this to the concept of
mathematics, because of his understanding in numbers and the patterns behind,
lead him to realize such view about religion. This part of the story can be a
very confusing one. It is because your personal faith and beliefs are challenge
by the arguments and explanations of Sahni. He, according to Ravi, was a very
open-minded person and never criticized the beliefs of others, especially
religion, when he was still alive. This discovery has left Ravi confused to the
true personality of his beloved bauji. From
this on, the story evolved until such time that Ravi found his passion again
and chose to be a mathematician rather than a successful economist and also
found his love in the persona of Claire.
Also,
through the perspective of Adin, a person who is interested in finding out the
true reason of life, mathematics was characterized as a doorway into answering
the questions behind the obvious things in nature where a certain proof and
solid reasoning is offered. In this view, the philosophy, another complex field
of study, can be understandably connected with mathematics. Philosophy is a
study of knowledge, of how things are considered certain or how such idea can
be accepted as true. It was clearly pictured out by the authors, that through
mathematics, these questions can be answered.
I
was fascinated with the concept of infinity. Because of this book, I was able
to discover that mathematics can never be contained into just equations and
shapes. There is more coming and more discoveries are still left unveiled, left
for the next generation to find out and conceptualized. This concept was very
new to me and can be considered as a new knowledge.
Generally,
the book was well constructed by the authors. They were able to relay some of
the complex concepts into the readers in such a fashionable and understandable
way. it was surprising at the end of the story that you were able to understand
what the characters were talking about and can even feel their passion for
mathematics. I give my appreciation to the writing skills of the authors.
Halfway
through the story, you can feel the developing love between the Ravi and
Claire. But expecting a more focus on this aspect, left me a bit disappointed
and hanging. The authors should have expanded their story and showed how this
romance was able to inspire and influence the life of Ravi. Overall, the book
was very informative and can be helpful in realizing the importance and concepts
behind mathematics. A course that can be reflected in a very wide range of
other studies and a very wide range of people’s understanding of the world and
the numbers behind it.
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