Breaking Through Dimensional Barriers: The Life of Smale

Author: Bart G. Smith
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Smale was a Fields Medalist in 1966 and a contemporary mathematical master with a unique life experience. He made outstanding achievements in many fields of mathematics, such as proving theoretically that it is possible to turn a sphere inside out from the inside, and proposing the precursor to the concept of chaos—the Smale horseshoe, among others. Smale first broke through the dimension barrier, achieving major progress on the high-dimensional Poincaré conjecture, proving that a six-dimensional world could be simpler than a three-dimensional one. Moreover, Smale was also a daring knight of the anti-war movement, which aimed to end the Vietnam War, and waged an unremitting struggle against the U.S. scientific management authorities to protect academic freedom. Smale had rich hobbies and was recognized as a top mineral collector. He was also passionate about photography, sailing, and mountaineering. This book, written by a mathematician very familiar with him, not only introduces the fascinating aspects of Smale's mathematical achievements in extremely accessible language but also presents the image of a unique, courageous, and persistent mathematician who pursued and explored with dedication.