Summary

Labatut opens “The Heart of the Heart” with the 2012 publication, by Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki, of four articles that prove “one of the most important conjectures in number theory, known as a + b = c” (61). The articles cause an uproar in the mathematics community; brilliant scholars find the work almost impossible to understand. While Mochizuki, a recluse, initially refuses to publicly defend his work, he finally agrees to present his Inter-Universal Theory at a 2014 conference. However, security guards remove him from the conference after a “confusing incident” (65). Mochizuki takes down the articles from his blog and prohibits the publication of his work. Many in the community believe he has “succumbed to Grothendieck’s curse” (65). Labatut notes that, while at Princeton, Mochizuki became obsessed with the ‘heart of the heart,’ one of mathematician Alexander Grothendieck’s central concepts.

Labatut then details the life of Grothendieck, a...