Footnote:

Thus, for instance, in his review of Uncle Petros, Keith Devlin found it convenient to open by totally clarifying possible doubts about the author in this regard:

Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture is a recent English translation of a 1992 Greek novel. The author -- and I'll say this at the start since, if you're like me, you're very reluctant to read a novel about a mathematician written by an author who knows little about mathematics -- received a bachelors degree in mathematics at Columbia University and a masters degree in applied mathematics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He has directed several computer companies and has written and directed for both the cinema and the stage. Thus, rest assured, not only does he get the math bits correct, he can write fiction as well. Indeed, through the medium of a fictional story, he manages to convey the nature of pure mathematics, the passion that can drive a mathematician to work for years on a seemingly irrelevant problem, and the single-minded dedication it can take to see the project through to its end -- or not, as the case may be.

 

Calculating the Limits of Poetic License:
Fictional Narrative and the History of Mathematics

Leo Corry - Tel Aviv University