{"product_id":"chasing-a-conjecture","title":"Chasing A Conjecture","description":"\u003cp\u003eA conjecture is like an unfulfilled fantasy in the world of pure mathematics where the most fantastic things happen routinely.\u003cbr\u003e\nProving a conjecture is like trying to make a fantasy come true, and it can consume a mathematician for years, just as the effort to produce a great work of fiction, music or art can take over the life of its creator.\u003cbr\u003e\nThis unusual, beguiling memoir is about such a journey. It begins with a child growing up in Mumbai, fascinated by mathematics, and ends with a man, just turned 40, winning a prestigious prize for proving, with a fellow-traveller, one of the most important conjectures in number theory – the branch of mathematics that studies whole numbers.\u003cbr\u003e\nIn this compelling account, Khare illuminates a quest that might seem impossibly esoteric to the outsider, but seen through his eyes, becomes palpably real and human. At its core, this is a book about the creative process; the mysterious ways by which ideas arise in the mind and take flight, amid many false starts and obstacles. While this undoubtedly requires solitude, a lot of the action also takes place in a delightfully collaborative atmosphere, across continents, which Khare evokes vividly.\u003cbr\u003e\nParaphrasing a famous mathematician, Khare says, ‘It is the person and not the method who solves a mathematical problem.’ So, appropriately, this book is also about a person, most poignantly about a man navigating the push and pull of creative ambition while trying to fulfil personal commitments such as wanting to be with his ill mother in Mumbai.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxfordbookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45082177044659,"sku":"9789353452537","price":720.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0718\/4164\/4723\/files\/918GT9xlgiL.jpg?v=1762893690","url":"https:\/\/oxfordbookstore.com\/products\/chasing-a-conjecture","provider":"Oxfordbookstore ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}