The Birth of a Review or (How Villani Both Reinforces and Challenges Our Beliefs About Mathematics) A Review of Cédric Villani’s Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure

In the book Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure, Cédric Villani paints portrait himself, from (dare I say) obsessed mathematician who works until wee hours night, to ordinary citizen, enjoying an impressive variety music, slightly odd man sporting ornamental spider daily. From Lyon Paris, through despair not being able eat quality cheese, takes us on journey, revisiting path that led him win Fields Medal. He back in time and punctuates his account with anecdotes or stories mathematicians. We recognize well-known names (Nash, Poincaré, etc.) are less well-known. lets adventure, we jump both feet (e.g., see Figure 1).