2003-11-04 The short life of Evariste Galois.

When asked, friends tell me that they think a mathematician or a scientist would typically have lived a long, and comfortable life. Perhaps that is so, but far from all the time: not now, not a hundred, or two hundred years ago. In mathematics, two romantic heros stand out, N. H. Abel, and Evariste Galois. Both lived at the start of the Nineteenth Century, and both died tragically, Galois in a duel.
The author Infeld is a romantic, and great writer; and he happens to also be a scientist. In addition to this book, Leopold Infeld wrote other captivating books. He was one of the first scientists who sucessfully intertwined science with popular writing. Infeld himself escaped from the Jewish Ghetto in Cracow, Poland, at the time of WWI. As he matured, he lived as a refugee scientist and writer, and miraculously overcame an incredible web of adversities that were stacked up against him.
Other books by Infeld include an autobiography, called "Quest", and a popular science book, "The Evolution of Physics", co-authored with Albert Einstein. Both books were bestsellers when they first appeared. I stumbled over Infeld's Galois biography purely by accident: Started to read late in the evening, were immediately hooked, and I didn't put the book down until the end, at sunrise. In the book we read about the last night of Galois's short life, the night before his fatal duel the next morning ("There is so little time" he wrote!). The young Galois hurriedly scribbled his original and profound ideas of matheamtics, and he gained imortality through the power of his insight. The life of Evariste Galois is a truly captivating drama, and written by one of the great story tellers. I am convinced that Infeld's stories, and his books, are less well known than they deserve to be