"The Library of Babel" is arguably Jorge Luis Borges' best known story--memorialized along with Borges on an Argentine postage stamp. Now, in The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel, William Goldbloom Bloch takes readers on a fascinating tour of the mathematical ideas hidden within one of the classic works of modern literature. Written in the vein of Douglas R. Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize-winning Godel, Escher, Bach, this original and imaginative book sheds light on one of Borges' most complex, richly layered works. Bloch begins each chapter with a mathematical idea--combinatorics, topology, geometry, information theory--followed by examples and illustrations that put flesh on the theoretical bones. In this way, he provides many fascinating insights into Borges' Library. He explains, for instance, a straightforward way to calculate how many books are in the Library--an easily notated but literally unimaginable number--and also shows that, if each book were the size of a grain of sand, the entire universe could only hold a fraction of the books in the Library. Indeed, if each book were the size of a proton, our universe would still not be big enough to hold anywhere near all the books. Given Borges' well-known affection for mathematics, this exploration of the story through the eyes of a humanistic mathematician makes a unique and important contribution to the body of Borgesian criticism. Bloch not only illuminates one of the great short stories of modern literature but also exposes the reader--including those more inclined to the literary world--to many intriguing and entrancing mathematical ideas.
The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel
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Review
"Mr. Bloch, professor of mathematics at Wheaton College, has woven an elegant, ingenious, scholarly interpretation of Borges's text that contradicts the disingenuous 'unimaginable' of his title."--New York Sun
"For the reader of Borges, some of Bloch's observations may offer a useful new way of engaging with the themes of the fiction." -- American Scientist
"You need no advanced mathematics to understand 'The Library of Babel' but chances are good that if you like the story, you'll enjoy Professor Bloch's excursions." -- Mathematical Association of America Review
"Given Borges' well-known affection for mathematics, this exploration of the story through the eyes of a humanistic mathematician makes a unique and important contribution to the body of Borgesian criticism. Bloch not only illuminates one of the great short stories of modern literature, but also exposes the reader - including those more inclined to the literary world - to many intriguing and entrancing mathematical ideas."--Mathematical Reviews
About the Author
William Goldbloom Bloch is Professor of Mathematics at Wheaton College.
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Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astounding and beautiful
Oct 20 2008
By Lady Ash
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I am team-teaching a class on literature and math this year, and my mathematician colleague and I are reading this book together. We are both seriously impressed by it. I'm going to convince him to write his own review, but I can say this:
- the book is *beautifully* written, a profound joy to read in a way that few books are
- I last took any math in high school, and I find the discussions clear and fascinating. If you think that you "hate math" or are "bad at math," don't be too sure. Bloch takes such care and pleasure in explaining mathematical concepts that I could follow them without much difficulty, and with much enjoyment.
I would recommend this book with wild enthusiasm to anyone who finds thinking pleasurable. And I can't stress enough how excellent the writing is.
- the book is *beautifully* written, a profound joy to read in a way that few books are
- I last took any math in high school, and I find the discussions clear and fascinating. If you think that you "hate math" or are "bad at math," don't be too sure. Bloch takes such care and pleasure in explaining mathematical concepts that I could follow them without much difficulty, and with much enjoyment.
I would recommend this book with wild enthusiasm to anyone who finds thinking pleasurable. And I can't stress enough how excellent the writing is.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is best to familiarize yourself with the short story, "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges before you read it
Dec 2 2009
By Charles Ashbacher
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
If you read this book without doing a little bit of familiarizing yourself with the short story, "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges, you will be starting the process from a weak position. The story describes a universe composed of an immense library of all books of 410 pages having a specified format. The library is constructed from a series of hexagonally shaped rooms, with four walls covered by books and each room contains the necessities for human survival. The order and content of the books is random, so the vast majority contains nothing but gibberish and there is no labeling by content. There are librarians, but the disorder has put them into a mood of despair, for librarians desire order in the stacks.
The structure of this library forms the database for the mathematics described in this book. It begins with the combinatorial computations needed to fathom, if that is possible, the enormous number of rooms and books that must be in the library. While it is possible to compute the number of possibilities, the number is so large that it justifies the use of "unimaginable" in the title. Other aspects of mathematics demonstrated based on the parameters of the library are information theory, the topology of the library and the universe it is, graph theory is used to explain the complexity of accessing the books and the probability of finding a book that you care about.
It is written in a conversational style, while mathematical formulas are used when necessary, the bulk of the text is expository in nature with an emphasis on general understanding. Writing a math book where the starting point is an item of literature is an interesting process and Bloch performs the task very well.
The structure of this library forms the database for the mathematics described in this book. It begins with the combinatorial computations needed to fathom, if that is possible, the enormous number of rooms and books that must be in the library. While it is possible to compute the number of possibilities, the number is so large that it justifies the use of "unimaginable" in the title. Other aspects of mathematics demonstrated based on the parameters of the library are information theory, the topology of the library and the universe it is, graph theory is used to explain the complexity of accessing the books and the probability of finding a book that you care about.
It is written in a conversational style, while mathematical formulas are used when necessary, the bulk of the text is expository in nature with an emphasis on general understanding. Writing a math book where the starting point is an item of literature is an interesting process and Bloch performs the task very well.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A treat if you already like Borges
Mar 10 2009
By Alatriste
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bloch is not only a mathematician, he's also a critic who has reviewed a lot of the literature on the Library of Babel and the life of Borges. So there is a lot in the book besides working out some of the mathematical implications of Borges' inspirations.
If you got as far as calculus in your math studies then you can probably follow most of the math without too much trouble. If you are a fan of Borges, there is a lot here about his math background and interests that you probably didn't know and which affected other works of his too.
If you are neither, pass this by. Go read some Borges and if you like him, then come back and read this.
If you got as far as calculus in your math studies then you can probably follow most of the math without too much trouble. If you are a fan of Borges, there is a lot here about his math background and interests that you probably didn't know and which affected other works of his too.
If you are neither, pass this by. Go read some Borges and if you like him, then come back and read this.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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