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(Alecos Papadatos And Annie Di Donna) |
Three to see
The Man of Logic
Superheroes fly. They walk through walls. They shoot sticky, webbed netting from the palms of their hands. And now, they’re explorers in search of the logic of mathematics.
“Logicomix,’’ the newly released graphic novel by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou, traces the tale of a different kind of superhero, mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, following his quest to the foundations of numbers, formulas, and calculations. On his search for absolute mathematical certainty, ideas from thinkers such as Frege, Hilbert, Poincaré, Wittgenstein, and Gödel come to life, weaving into Russell’s thinking.
Over lunch eight years ago, Doxiadis, a novelist and math enthusiast, revealed a glimpse of his most recent brainchild to Papadimitriou, a computer science researcher and professor at University of California at Berkeley. Doxiadis was thinking about writing a story about the foundation of logic. In comic form.
“I did find it completely crazy in the beginning,’’ Papadimitriou admits, a position that his cartooned and appropriately bearded persona attests to in the book, “but soon it was agreed that that was a very appropriate form.’’
The author of the widely used textbook “Computational Complexity,’’ Papadimitriou said writing “Logicomix’’ “couldn’t be more different.’’ Rather than assembling detailed inscriptions of algorithms and equations, the focus is on characters and historical context, with just a splash of mathematics.
“This is an historical novel,’’ he said. “A lot of effort goes into capturing the texture and atmosphere of the period.’’
So much effort, in fact, that the project almost spanned a decade.
“Every page is three days work by four people,’’ Papadimitriou said. “I’m very frustrated when I give it to a friend, and three hours later they tell me ‘Oh nice, I’ve read it!’ It took me eight years and it takes them three hours. I wish our pain was a little more evident.’’
He realizes, however, that the beauty of “Logicomix’’ resides in the fact that it’s an easy read.
“This is an incredibly accessible form. You wouldn’t imagine how many people tell me their 7-year-old kid loves it. It’s very attractive to young people,’’ he said.
Fundamentally, though, while “Logicomix’’ offers a lessons about an academic, somewhat arcane subject, the partners were attracted to the project because at bottom it is an interesting yarn.
“Apostolos and I love mathematics, and we know that mathematics can be obsessive so we wanted a story about its foundation,’’ Papadimitriou said. “If we did describe all of the mathematics, we would lose a little, and frankly there is too much education in my life. When we wrote this novel that wasn’t our purpose, our purpose was to tell a fascinating story.’’
Papadimitriou will discuss “Logicomix’’ Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre.
BAH, HUMBUG?
Augusten Burroughs, the author of “Running With Scissors,’’ presents his twisted collection of Christmases past in “You Better Not Cry,’’ with his usual dose of wry wit and lingering nostalgia. Burroughs will read from “You Better Not Cry’’ Thursday at 6 p.m. at Coolidge Corner Theatre ($5).A TEXAS TALE
Jeannette Walls, author of best-selling memoir “The Glass Castle,’’ gives another peek into her quirky family with “Half Broke Horses,’’ a “true-life’’ novel told from the point of view of Walls’ no-nonsense grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Walls will discuss “Half Broke Horses’’ tonight at 7 at Wellesley Free Library.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
