Review of: Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel

objects relate. Frenkel illustrates this connection-building process with several nice examples until, on page 222, he has a chart that connects Number Theory, Riemann Surfaces (Geometry), and Quantum Physics. Quantum Physics? How did that get in there? Through Gauge Theory– a complicated notion that Frenkel (wisely) does not try to explain. However, having read this book I now want to find out what it is. Frenkel claims that frequently a branch of math that was thought of as pure abstraction ends up being applied to practical problems. I am often skeptical of such claims since the (perhaps forgotten) origin of many mathematics problems is, in turn, some real-world application. However, the examples given here seem legitimate since Number Theory really has no apparent connection to Quantum Physics yet the links are there. One is left with the impression that Frenkel and others in the book (including Ed Witten, the only Physicist to win a Field’s Medal) are serious brilliant people who are doing serious brilliant work.