“[D]elightful… For non-mathematicians, Letters to a Young Mathematician offers wonderful insight into academics, a reading list in a variety of fields, and a bit of knowledge about Gauss, Fibonacci, Leibniz, Feynman, and Fermat. It also serves as a primer on mathematicians, their culture, their tribal customs, and their community. For mathematicians themselves, Stewart provides first-rate career advice and offers a charming example of how best to talk to the rest of us.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“Ian Stewart, a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick in England, crafts a series of letters to an imaginary correspondent named Meg, who contemplates a career in math and goes from high school to university, graduate work and finally tenure as a math professor.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Offers good advice… [Stewart’s] description of the community of mathematics is true and appealing.”
—Nature
“If you are a parent, friend, or spouse of someone who wants to become a mathematician, or of someone you think should become a mathematician, or even someone who already is a mathematician, you should buy that person a copy of this delightful little book. And if you are curious as to exactly what it is that university mathematicians do, or why, then buy yourself a copy as well.”
—Keith Devlin, author of The Math Gene and The Millennium Problems
“No one could have written better on what being a mathematician is all about, and on what it takes to become one. A true gem.”
—Mario Livio, author of The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved and The Golden Ratio