鈥淧ROBLEMS worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.鈥� Anyone doubting the truth of this aphorism should read Donal O鈥橲hea鈥檚 account of a problem left to the world by the French genius Henri Poincar茅. His famous conjecture fought back for almost a century, swallowing large chunks of careers and ending up with a million-dollar bounty on its head. Amazingly, the apparent victor seems reluctant to claim any glory. O鈥橲hea鈥檚 approach is more narrative than technical, but he conveys the gist of topology鈥檚 mind-bending contortions with great flair.
The Poincar茅 Conjecture
Allen Lane/Walker Books