There are moments in one’s reading life where one come
across an unexpected book which gives one pleasure in absorbing the text and revelation
in ruminating about the message. This was my feeling after I finished
Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Frances Su.
This is a book that I discovered when I saw Thomas Lin, the
editor of Quanta Magazine touting it on Twitter. Being curious and being as
that the author gave me a code which gave me 25% off on the purchase of the
book, I jumped at the chance.
It was one the best chance that I have ever taken.
Professor Su is a mathematician at Harvey Mudd College in
California. He was also the President of the mathematical Association of America;
this book came out of an address that he made in 2014 as the president of MAA.
I have not read the address, but I have read the book and the book is an
amazing amalgam of intellectual wonderings about life and what humans hold to
be noble and mathematics of course. The author asks question, many questions. Illuminating
questions that is much beyond quick and facile answers. He also lays himself
out honestly and courageously, sharing with the readers his quest to becoming a
mathematician, on his insecurities about growing up Asian in the United States,
his feelings about being in an over achieving family culture, and working in an
art form that America does not appreciate or value. He also introduces his
friend Christopher Jackson, an inmate in the penal law system of Georgia. Chris
had committed a crime when he was very young, aged 19, and he's has been in the penal system for what
he had done. While he was in prison he also started to dabble in mathematics,
soon discovering that he a passion for mathematics and also that he was adept at
mathematics, enough to be a researcher, per Prof. Su’s estimation. Prof. Su
shared some of his correspondence with Chris Jackson. The correspondences were
about math, but also about many things beyond math, which helped illustrate the
main thesis of the exposition.
Prof. Su chose thirteen concepts, words, and ideas to delineate
his feelings about mathematics. He uses them to dive deeply into the ideas that
mathematics enhances and improves, he uses these concepts to expound on what it
means for him to be doing mathematics. The structure of the book is completely non-traditional,
and it is breathtaking in its scope.
The central tenet of the book of course is laid out in the
title: Mathematics for Human Flourishing. The author’s thesis is that
mathematics is the path towards making humans flourish in their reality, to give
us humans a path towards reaching realms that are beyond our initially meager
imaginations, that doing math is not just a task or chore or a talent but a
necessary spiritual practice to advance our society, to feed our naturally
fecund imaginations, to sate our very human yearning for meaning in this life
and in this world.
This thesis a giant leap for those who are math phobic, but
it is a heroic declaration for those who are passionate about mathematics.
Professor Su does yeoman’s work in using those concepts to illuminate his
thesis: flourishing, exploration, meaning, play, beauty, permanence, truth, struggle,
power, justice, freedom, community, and love to flesh out his argument that not
only is mathematics a practical and beautiful practice, but it is also a critical
necessity for human thriving in our internal lives. The doing of mathematics
makes us better people, it makes us kinder, more patient, more cognizant of the
world around us, it makes us more curious, it makes us learn that our world is
more than just what we see in front of us.
Ever the detailed technician, Prof. Su carefully lists the
virtues that comes through each of the concepts he chose to highlight in each
chapter. He assiduously frames his chapters to clearly illustrate each of the
virtues and connects them to each of the words he used to name the chapters. He
also lists them all at the end of the book, to make sure the readers understood
his point.
The completeness of his authorly duties does not end there,
he provides discussion questions at the end, as well as hints and solutions to
the puzzles he provides at the end of his chapters. He was very complete in pursuing
his mission.
Unlike many of the books regarding mathematics, this one
goes into the reasons why mathematicians become mathematicians, more
importantly, the book amply demonstrates the point that mathematics is not only
a magnificent art to pursue, it is also one that is desirable one to pursuit.
This book is enlightening, inspirational, and gives hope to everyone who is
willing to read it.
