MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Schaurige Mathematik (2007)
Alexander Mehlmann
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Professor Moriarty, the evil mathematician best known as the arch enemy of Sherlock Holmes, is both the hero and the narrator of this short story. He joins forces with Dracula and uses math to fight Jack the Ripper.

Spoiler Alert: The idea of the story is that Sherlock Holmes has gone crazy and is Jack the Ripper. The main mathematical content is in Moriarty's proofs based on game theory that Holmes will get less cautious as he gets closer to being caught for the crimes.

I have not actually read this story, which appears only in German in the mathematically-themed collection Mathematische Seitensprönge: Ein unbeschwerter Ausflug in das Wunderland zwischen Mathematik und Literatur by Alexander Mehlmann, an Austrian professor of business math. So, I am very grateful to Hauke Reddmann for bringing it to my attention, rating it, and summarizing it for me.

More information about this work can be found at play.google.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Schaurige Mathematik
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. The Return of Moriarty by John Gardner
  2. Professor and Colonel by Ruth Berman
  3. The Ultimate Crime by Isaac Asimov
  4. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
  5. After Math by Miriam Webster
  6. Gaming Instinct (Spieltrieb) by Juli Zeh
  7. Intoxicating Heights (Höhenrausch. Die Mathematik des XX. Jahrhunderts in zwanzig Gehirnen) by Dietmar Dath
  8. Let's Consider Two Spherical Chickens by Tommaso Bolognesi
  9. Probability Murder by Michael Flynn
  10. A Killer Theorem by Colin Adams
Ratings for Schaurige Mathematik:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
5/5 (1 votes)
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Literary Quality:
3/5 (1 votes)
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Categories:
GenreMystery, Humorous, Fantasy,
MotifSherlock Holmes,
Topic
MediumShort Stories,

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Exciting News: The 1,600th entry was recently added to this database of mathematical fiction! Also, for those of you interested in non-fictional math books let me (shamelessly) plug the recent release of the second edition of my soliton theory textbook.

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)