One of the most acclaimed plays of its time, Proof is a work that explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of science.
It focuses on Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her father, Robert, a brilliant mathematician in his youth who was later unable to function without her help. His death has brought into her midst both her sister, Claire, who wants to take Catherine back to New York with her, and Hal, a former student of Catherine's father who hopes to find some hint of Robert's genius among his incoherent scribblings. The passion that Hal feels for math both moves and angers Catherine, who, in her exhaustion, is torn between missing her father and resenting the great sacrifices she made for him. For Catherine has inherited at least a part of her father's brilliance—and perhaps some of his instability as well. As she and Hal become attracted to each other, they push at the edges of each other's knowledge, considering not only the unpredictability of genius but also the human instinct toward love and trust.
One of the most acclaimed plays of its time, Proof is a work that explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of science.
It focuses on Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her father, Robert, a brilliant mathematician in his youth who was later unable to function without her help. His death has brought into her midst both her sister, Claire, who wants to take Catherine back to New York with her, and Hal, a former student of Catherine's father who hopes to find some hint of Robert's genius among his incoherent scribblings. The passion that Hal feels for math both moves and angers Catherine, who, in her exhaustion, is torn between missing her father and resenting the great sacrifices she made for him. For Catherine has inherited at least a part of her father's brilliance—and perhaps some of his instability as well. As she and Hal become attracted to each other, they push at the edges of each other's knowledge, considering not only the unpredictability of genius but also the human instinct toward love and trust.
| ISBN-13: | 9780571199976 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Publication date: | 03/05/2001 |
| Edition description: | First Edition |
| Pages: | 96 |
| Sales rank: | 87,547 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.45(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.30(d) |
Today is Pi Day (or, as the Internet has dubbed this year’s occurrence, Rounded Pi Day), which means it’s the perfect time to celebrate the long tradition of books inspired by mathematics, and also to ask the important question: are mathematicians really as tortured as writers like to think they are? Because…yikes. Here are six genre-spanning books that […]
