I recently finished reading “Birth of a Theorem” by the French mathematician Cedric Villani. It is a terrific book even if you understand only a fraction of the math in it (I certainly did not understand most of it). Villani does a great job bringing the reader along on his quest to prove a theorem that would qualify him for the coveted Fields medal. The Fields medal is the highest reward in mathematics and among its qualification requirement are that the recipient must be 40 years or younger...

I recently finished reading “Birth of a Theorem” by the French mathematician Cedric Villani. It is a terrific book even if you understand only a fraction of the math in it (I certainly did not understand most of it). Villani does a great job bringing the reader along on his quest to prove a theorem that would qualify him for the coveted Fields medal. The Fields medal is the highest reward in mathematics and among its qualification requirement are that the recipient must be 40 years or younger...