For 150 years the Riemann hypothesis has been the holy grail of mathematics. Now, at a moment when mathematicians are finally moving in on a proof, Dartmouth professor Dan Rockmore tells the riveting history of the hunt for a solution.In 1859 German professor Bernhard Riemann postulated a law capable of describing with an amazing degree of accuracy the occurrence of the prime numbers. Rockmore takes us all the way from Euclid to the mysteries of quantum chaos to show how the Riemann hypothesis lies at the very heart of some of the most cutting-edge research going on today in physics and mathematics. “Admirably fresh [and] fully accessible. . . . Rockmore is an excellent guide to take you right to the edge of the mathematical map, and he's bang up to date." — New Scientist “A terrific read. . . . Like a fast-paced detective story. . . . With crystalline clarity and a refreshing sense of fun, Dan Rockmore . . . takes us on a guided tour of the deepest mystery in mathematics.” —Steven Strogatz, author of Sync “Remarkable and exciting. . . . The sheer beauty of the writing, the appealing historical perspective, and the drama of the intellectual hunt make you think about the deep nature of the universe as you never have.” —Michael S. Gazzaniga, Director of the The SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at UC Santa Barbara In 1859 a German professor named Bernhard Riemann postulated a law capable of describing with an amazing degree of accuracy the baffling occurrence of prime numbers; coming up with its proof has been the holy grail of mathematicians ever since. In "Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis, Dan Rockmore, a prominent mathematician in his own right, takes us from Euclid's pondering of the infinitude of the primes through modern efforts to prove the Riemann hypothesis-efforts that astonishingly connect the primes to the statistics of solitaire, chaos theory, and even the mysteries of quantum mechanics. Along the way, he introduces us to the many brilliant and fascinating thinkers who have contributed to this work, from the most famous mathematician of all time, Carl Friedrich Gauss (Riemann's teacher), to the intellectual giants David Hilbert and Freeman Dyson. A lively, comprehensive, and accessible examination of one of the most compelling unsolved problems in mathematics, "Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis tells us the full story of the quest to find that elusive solution. Dan Rockmore is a professor of mathematics and computer science at Darmouth College. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife, son, and golden retriever. Prologue—It All Begins with Zero It’s one of those slate-gray summer days that more properly belong to mid-August than late May, one of those days in New York City when it is barely clear where the city ends and the sky begins. The hard-edged lines and Euclidean-inspired shapes that are building, sidewalk, and pavement all seem to fuse into one huge melted mass that slowly dissolves into the humid, breezeless, torpid air. On mornings like this, even this irrepressible metropolis seems to have slowed a notch, a muffled cacophony more bass than treble, as the city that never sleeps stumbles and shuffles to work. But here in Greenwich Village, at the corner of Mercer and West Fourth streets, where we find New York University’s Warren Weaver Hall, the hazy torpor is interrupted by a localized high-energy eddy. Here, deep in the heart of the artistic rain forest that is “the Village,” just across the street from the rock ’n’ rolling nightclub the Bottom line, a stone’s throw from the lofts and galleries that gave birth to Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and the Velvet Underground, is the home of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, where at this moment there is an excitement worthy of any gallery opening in SoHo, or any new wave, next wave, or crest-of-the-wave musical performance. The lobby and adjacent plaza are teeming with mathematicians, a polyglot and international group, abuzz with excitement. Listen closely, and amid the multilingual, every-accent mathematical jibber-jabber you’ll hear a lot of talk about nothing, or more properly a lot of talk about zero. Zero is not an uncommon topic of conversation in New York, but more often than not it’s the “placeholder zeros” that are on the tip of the New Yorker’s tongue. These are the zeros that stand in for the orders of magnitude by which we measure the intellectual, cultural, and financial abundance that is New York: one zero to mark the tens of ethnic neighborhoods, two for the hundreds of entertainment options, three for the thousands of restaurants, six for the millions of people, and, of course, the zeros upon zeros that mark the billions or even trillions of dollars that churn through the city every day. These are not the zeros of void, but the zeros of plenty. But, today, just one week past Memorial Day 2002, it’s a zero of a different flavor which has attracted this eclectic group to downtown New York City. Here