The Weil Conjectures

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'Beguiling ... I was riveted. Olsson is evocative on curiosity as an appetite of the mind, on the pleasure of glutting oneself on knowledge' - New York Times

'A wonderful book ... Reading it is akin to kicking a can along the road of higher learning' - Patti Smith

'A remarkable tour de force' - Standpoint

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Simone Weil: philosopher, political activist, mystic – and sister to André, one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. These two extraordinary siblings formed an obsession for Karen Olsson, who studied mathematics at Harvard, only to turn to writing as a vocation.

When Olsson got hold of the 1940 letters between the siblings, she found they shared a curiosity about the inception of creative thought – that flash of insight – that Olsson experienced as both a mathematics student, and later, a novelist.

Following this thread of connections, The Weil Conjectures explores the lives of Simone and André, the lore and allure of mathematics, and its significance in Olsson’s own life.