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Fascinating! This is exceptionally well-written. I can't imagine it being very easy to communicate mathematical concepts and the excitement of the discovery (!) in ways that even the uninitiated (like myself) can relate to.

His discovery (albeit not identified as such) contributed to laying the foundation for work in string theory and he had no clue.

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If you liked this post, check the BBC podcast Series "A Brief History of Mathematics"[1] and also "The Music of the Primes" from Amazon. It's from the same author.

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00srz5b/episodes/downloads

Anything by Marcus du Sautoy is awesome :-)

I think so!!

Thank you, this looks fantastic!

I recently bought Leonard Susskind's "The Theoretical Minimum" [0] so I could better understand theoretical physics. The explanations are short and clear, but I'm starting to realize that I learn a lot better when I know the historical context in which these concepts developed (or why they were needed). Feynman does this in his lectures and it really helps.

I might really enjoy these podcasts.

[0]. http://theoreticalminimum.com/

I agree, except the bit about string theory. I don't understand why science journalists think 'additional dimensions which are rolled up into a tiny space' means anything to the lay reader.

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