Chasing A Conjecture : Inside The Mind Of A Mathematician

A Conjecture Is Like An Unfulfilled Fantasy In The World Of Pure Mathematics Where The Most Fantastic Things Happen Routinely.Proving A Conjecture Is Like Trying To Make A Fantasy Come True, And It Can Consume A Mathematician For Years, Just As The Effort To Produce A Great Work Of Fiction, Music Or Art Can Take Over The Life Of Its Creator.This Unusual, Beguiling Memoir Is About Such A Journey. It Begins With A Child Growing Up In Mumbai, Fascinated By Mathematics, And Ends With A Man, Just Turned 40, Winning A Prestigious Prize For Proving, With A Fellow-Traveller, One Of The Most Important Conjectures In Number Theory - The Branch Of Mathematics That Studies Whole Numbers.In This Compelling Account, Khare Illuminates A Quest That Might Seem Impossibly Esoteric To The Outsider, But Seen Through His Eyes, Becomes Palpably Real And Human. At Its Core, This Is A Book About The Creative Process; The Mysterious Ways By Which Ideas Arise In The Mind And Take Flight, Amid Many False Starts And Obstacles. While This Undoubtedly Requires Solitude, A Lot Of The Action Also Takes Place In A Delightfully Collaborative Atmosphere, Across Continents, Which Khare Evokes Vividly.Paraphrasing A Famous Mathematician, Khare Says, It Is The Person And Not The Method Who Solves A Mathematical Problem. So, Appropriately, This Book Is Also About A Person, Most Poignantly About A Man Navigating The Push And Pull Of Creative Ambition While Trying To Fulfil Personal Commitments Such As Wanting To Be With His Ill Mother In Mumbai.