I chanced upon this book in the popular science section of an independent bookshop, and my attention was grabbed by the vivid blue of the cover, and I was further drawn in by its ‘funky’ design. Once I read the blurb, I quickly decided that the contents of the book were for me, and I bought it.
Cédric Villani’s Birth of a Theorem tells the story of a mathematical theorem, from its initial conception as a vague, throwaway observation, to its development and formal statement, right through to its proof and eventual publication, a journey lasting several years. The theorem in question is the important result of Villani and his former PhD student Clément Mouhot on the phenomena of ‘Landau damping’, a result that ultimately won Villani the 2010 Fields Medal and widespread acclaim.
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