Chasing a Conjecture

A conjecture is like an unfulfilled fantasy in the world of pure mathematics where the most fantastic things happen routinely. Proving a conjecture is like trying to make a fantasy come true, and it can consume a mathematician for years, just as the effort to produce a great work of fiction, music or art can take over the life of its creator. This unusual, beguiling memoir is about such a journey. It begins with a child growing up in Mumbai, fascinated by mathematics, and ends with a man, just turned 40, winning a prestigious prize for proving, with a fellow-traveller, one of the most important conjectures in number theory – the branch of mathematics that studies whole numbers. In this compelling account, Khare illuminates a quest that might seem impossibly esoteric to the outsider, but seen through his eyes, becomes palpably real and human. At its core, this is a book about the creative process; the mysterious ways by which ideas arise in the mind and take flight, amid many false starts and obstacles. While this undoubtedly requires solitude, a lot of the action also takes place in a delightfully collaborative atmosphere, across continents, which Khare evokes vividly. Paraphrasing a famous mathematician, Khare says, ‘It is the person and not the method who solves a mathematical problem.’ So, appropriately, this book is also about a person, most poignantly about a man navigating the push and pull of creative ambition while trying to fulfil personal commitments such as wanting to be with his ill mother in Mumbai.