Literary Science#

Science, with their history and philosophy, is the main building block of Poligon Educational. We now propose a course that adds literature to the mix. We discuss modern and contemporary novels and short stories which include subtle scientific details that are essential for understanding the text.

Believe it or not, we’re not referring to science fiction novels, but plain fiction. At the same time, we will not require any scientific background from you, but elementary mathematics (say high school level) will be a bonus.

Nevertheless, the course emphasizes dialogue, aims to provoke questions and debates, so you’ll be signing up for an interactive experience, not a boring academic lecture.

Here are the topics and works we propose:

• Counting to Infinity: Georg Cantor’s hierarchy, Hilbert’s Hotel, and Blue Tigers, by Jorge L. Borges.
• Rigor and Poetry: Sofia Kovalevsky and Karl Weierstrass in Too much happiness, by Alice Munro.
• Happiness Spaces: General realtivity and non-Euclidean geometry in the work of Gabriel Florin Macsim. Discussions with the author.
• Tesseracts and Rubber Geometry: Four-dimensional topology in Mircea Cărtărescu’s Solenoid.
• Once Upon a Prime: Geometry and arithmetic of prose by Kurt Vonnegut and Oulipo, as they appear in Sarah Hart’s Once Upon a Prime.

All presentations will contain detailed explanations of scientific and mathematical concepts, as well as further suggested reading personalized for each member of the audience.