Mathematics Faculty Member Philip Ording’s 99 Variations on a Proof featured in The New York Review of Books
Mathematics Faculty Member Philip Ording’s 99 Variations on a Proof is featured in the January 13, 2022, edition of The New York Review of Books . Published in 2019, the book is inspired by the Oulipo writer Raymond Queneau, whose Exercises in Style retold a story in 99 different styles. Ording’s variations on a solution of a cubic equation, each with an explanatory note, run from “one line” and “two-column” to “clever,” “doggerel,” and “psychedelic.” The book attempts to show that ideas of style and cultural influence are as relevant to the work of mathematicians as they are to the creations of artists.