Literature + Math ="Once Upon a Prime"
A math professor's wonderful argument for bridging the worlds of numbers and letters
In her book Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature, British math professor Sarah Hart explores what too few others have dared: the connection between literature and math.
It should be no surprise that I was eager to read Professor Hart’s book. Someone else whose quirky a passion for the intersection of computation and composition drives them to write about it publicly for all to see? Count me in. (Pun intended!)
Hart establishes her voice early in the book, a remarkable mix both academic and affable. And though at times I did find myself bedazzled by calculations, I never felt intimidated. The author has a way of consistently assuaging readers’ doubts they are in over their heads.
You are the reader Hart is writing for.
Hart guides readers through the intersections of math and literature from a number of different angles:
Mathematical terms and concepts in literary works
Geographic patterns in narrative structures
Mathematical patterns used to structure literary works and diction (imagine writing a book that could not use the letter “e” and how that restriction would limit an author’s word choices while increasing creativity!)
Stress testing mathematical assumptions and/or logic in stories
And so much more
Here’s a sample. In her second chapter entitled “The Geometry of Narrative,” Hart recounts a lecture by Kurt Vonnegut in which the famed writer demonstrates how he sees narrative structures in geometric terms:
Hart builds on this idea further, accessibly walking readers through a host of ways that geometry and narrative intertwine. She writes:
All writing has structure from the get-go. Language itself is built on component parts, each of which has patterns. Letters make up words, words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs, and so on. This is already a structure, analogous to the hierarchy of point, line, plane in geometry. At each stage, further structures can be imposed. Paragraphs, for instance, can be joined together to form chapters. The decision is not whether to structure your work; rather it's what structure to choose. Within each of these levels, writers may choose to add additional structural constraints.
Of course: structures and patterns are a fundamental way of understanding and shaping the world. But the idea that mathematical and narrative patterns might complement each other in a way that enriches my experience of both? That was new to me.
I highly recommend checking out Dr. Hart’s tome. And if you are interested in math and literary education, check out the webinar below, which includes my interview with the book’s author about ways schools might better blur the lines between numbers and letters.