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Amir Alexander is a writer, historian, and mathematician living in Los Angeles.
His latest book, Liberty's Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America (2024) takes aim at the exceptional landscape of the United States: Why, it asks, is so much of America, both urban and rural, structured as a grid of straight lines and right angles? The startling answer is that the great grid was the brainchild of Thomas Jefferson, who sought to transform the rich American wilderness into a mathematical blank slate where freedom would reign and settlers forge an "Empire of Liberty." To this day, the book shows, Americans physically inhabit Jefferson's mind, imbibing his vision into their daily lives.
Amir's previous books have focused on the deep interconnections between mathematics and our human world. Proof! How the World Became Geometrical (2019) tells the story of how geometry, conceived over 2000 years ago, came to shape our reality. From the gardens of Versailles to the streets of Washington DC and beyond, geometry has not only fashioned our landscapes, but also our art, our ideals, and our politics
Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World (2014), brought to life the fierce struggles surrounding the infinitely small in the 17th century. At stake was not just a mathematical concept, but the shape of the modern world, its social hierarchies and political order. Infinitesimal was selected as one of the top books of 2014 by Slate magazine.
In "Duel at Dawn" (2010), he offered a look at three romantic young mathematicians - Galois, Abel, and Bolyai - and showed how their mathematical breakthroughs were inseparable from their short and tragic lives and from the legends that grew around them. Writing in the New Criterion, Martin Gardner called the book, "a marvelous history."
Amir's first book, "Geometrical Landscapes," showed how early mathematicians came to view their research as a heroic voyage of exploration, setting the stage for modern mathematics. Published in 2002, it was called "an exceptional, seminal work" by Choice magazine.
Amir has taught history, philosophy, and the history of science at Stanford and UCLA, served on the editorial board of the journal Isis, and published extensively in academic journals. He has contributed to the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Nature, and other publications. He has been interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered, Science Friday, and elsewhere.
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