Thinking in Numbers by Daniel Tammet reminds me of another memoir
by an autistic author: Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin. Tammet’s book is
an uneven collection of essays on math, literature and personal reflection.
Both books demonstrate the self-obsession of (autistic) authors.
The theme of the book is finding a connection to numbers
within a wide range of topics. For example, Hans Christian Anderson’s “The
Princess and the Pea” leads to an investigation of fractions. How small is the
bump that keeps the princess awake? Another chapter discusses languages what
have different numbers to count different objects such as sheep and fingers,
and languages with a limited number of counting words, usually of the one, two,
many types.
I found one of the most interesting to be a chapter on
Shakespeare’s mathematics education using Robert Recorde’s 1543 book on
Algebra. This chapter includes a selection of mathematically inspired lines
such as, “Lear: Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.” Another notable person
connected to a famous math book is “a copy of [Euclid’s] Elements traveled in
the carpetbag of a circuit lawyer from Illinois…Abraham Lincoln.”
Other chapters investigate Tolstoy, Einstein, Omar Khayyam,
SETI, the Garden of Eden, and snowflakes. The chapters jump around, and the
commonality of numbers is not enough to produce a cohesive whole. The idea that
numbers are ubiquitous is well demonstrated, but the result is chaotic and unsatisfying.
If your goal is an insight
into the autistic mind, Temple Grandin is the far better choice. She gets past her
self-obsession, considers the experience of others, and makes general
conclusions. Typical of Tammet is a chapter on his record-breaking recitation
of Pi to 22,514 digits. However, this is only the European record, and he made
a mistake at digit 2,965. The world record is 67,890, so this chapter is more
self-congratulatory than factual or noteworthy. I recommend any book by Temple
Grandin instead.
Check
out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075
for book recommendations.
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