The Loom of God:
Mathematical Tapestries at the Edge of Time
by Clifford A. Pickover
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A., 1996.
214 pp. $17.00. ISBN: 0-262-53137-2.
Reviewed by Istvan Hargittai
This is the most recent addition to a fast growing series of books by
Clifford Pickover, blending computers, science, art, and each time at
least one special topic of general interest. This time the motto of
the book is, "I do not know if God is a mathematician, but mathematics
is the loom upon which God weaves the fabric of the universe."
Pickover can discuss the most serious matters playfully and can take a
fresh look at topics that generally would be considered
over-discussed. In this book he discusses questions that seemingly
overlap between mathematics and theology. He does this though with a
characteristic wink.
The reader ends up with a lot of entertaining mathematics and very little theology in the traditional sense of the word. Whether there is a mathematical proof of the existence of God appears to be a much more important question than the question itself whether God exists in the first place. The book is full of beautiful graphics, both classical from Dover volumes and those, generated by computer, famous and not so well-known quotations, imaginary characters, reader's fan mail referring to Pickover's previous books, and his trademark Smorgasbord for Computer Junkies. Pickover appears, again, as an unusual an uninhibited author in several innovative features of this volume, such as the involvement of many partners, as co-authors, through the Internet. Such a book, as The Loom of God, could not have been imagined 30 ago, and could not have been produced even 10 years ago. Today, it is all possible, and there seems to be a strong market for it. In this connection, we could paraphrase what George M. Cohan, the King of Broadway in the first half of this century answered when asked about the secret of his success, but his words have direct relevance without change. He said something like, "I am an ordinary guy who knows what ordinary guys like." This is what makes Pickover, like Cohan, extraordinary.
