If you went into Fermat’s last theorem looking for an intro to elliptic curves you were out of luck but as a book about why maths is awesome it is great—precisely, I think, because of that emphasis on mathematicians biographies. Reading it was one of the pivotal moments in my life, setting me on the path that lead me to a maths PhD (and incidentaly lesswrong too).
If you went into Fermat’s last theorem looking for an intro to elliptic curves you were out of luck but as a book about why maths is awesome it is great—precisely, I think, because of that emphasis on mathematicians biographies. Reading it was one of the pivotal moments in my life, setting me on the path that lead me to a maths PhD (and incidentaly lesswrong too).