A review by aminowrimo
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth by Paul Hoffman

5.0

I received this book for Christmas from a friend, but it took me (as with most books) a while to start it. The book is well-written, combining Erdős' life with advances in the mathematics of the time. I very much enjoyed reading. I actually had to stop quite often to take notes on what was being said and to write down all the different new things I wanted to look into. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in biographies or mathematics. Erdős' life was fascinating—his mother did everything for him so that he could concentrate on math, and once he started traveling around the world, his friends, called "Uncle Paul sitters", took care of him and made sure that he didn't get into too much trouble. The man had his own unique passport, a pseudo language of his own where God is the Supreme Fascist, women are bosses and men are slaves, children are epsilons (he loved children), and above all, a great brain for mathematics. Hoffman outlines Erdős' life while delving into the mathematics of the time and their work. I may have finished one book, but I've added about twenty to my to-read list as a result of the references made and the bibliography.