Yesterday and Long Ago - Softcover

This is a charming collection of essays on life and science, by one of the leading mathematicians of our day. Vladimir Igorevich Arnold is renowned for his achievements in mathematics, and nearly as famous for his informal teaching style, and for the clarity and accessibility of his writing. The chapter headings convey Arnold’s humor and restless imagination. A few examples: My first recollections; The combinatorics of Plutarch; The topology of surfaces according to Alexander of Macedon; Catching a pike in Cambridge. Yesterday and Long Ago offers a rare opportunity to appreciate the life and work of one of the world’s outstanding living mathematicians.

This charming book by one of the leading mathematicians of our day, Vladimir Igorevich Arnold, is a rambling collection of his memories from early childhood up to recent days. Some marvellous historical and geographical stories occupy a large part of the book. Their characteristic lively style draws the reader into the past as though it were happening today.

The book will be of value to historians of twentieth-century mathematics as source material, and mathematicians will read it for the pure pleasure of learning more about one of their most eminent colleagues. It has both humor and pathos, and even a non-mathematical reader will find it very difficult to put it away.