Published in France in 2010 by Éditions Vuibert, this nearly four-hundred-page book is impossible to put down, so captivating is the narrative, so appealing the artwork, and so fascinating the subject. Its two authors, Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou, set themselves the challenge of recounting the "foundational crisis" that shook the mathematical community in the early 20th century. To do so, the novel plunges readers into this period of scientific ferment through the eyes of one of the fathers of logic: Russell.
As the pages turn, we discover not only the life and thoughts of a mathematician but also those of a philosopher, a figure shaped by the political upheavals of his time, and a man. The quest that drove Russell throughout his life—the search for solid foundations for mathematics—is intimately intertwined with the joys and trials he experiences along the way. With subtlety and elegance, Logicomix draws us into the life of a man as brilliant as he is well-rounded and, above all, allows us to share his faith in reason and his enthusiasm for mathematics. An absolute must-read!
