The Millennium Problems by Keith Devlin, Granta, £20, ISBN 1862076863 Reviewed by Robert Matthews
IN May 2000, an American financier named Landon Clay unveiled a set of seven $ million prizes, to be awarded to the first people to solve seven mathematical conundrums. Known as the Millennium Problems, these are no frivolous mind games cooked up by a rich crackpot. Each has been selected by an international panel of leading mathematicians as a deep problem of profound importance. They encompass fields as varied as particle physics and code-breaking. And for the most part, they are incomprehensible.
The sheer difficulty of understanding…
