Apostolos Doxiadis
Encyclopedia
Apostolos Doxiadis (b. 1953 in Brisbane
, Queensland
in Australia
and raised in Greece
) is a Greek writer.
Since his early years Doxiadis was drawn to mathematics
and at the age of 15 he entered Columbia University
in New York City to study maths. He later attended the École Pratique des Hautes Études
in Paris
where he studied mathematical modeling of the nervous system
at the graduate level.
Later, Doxiadis returned to his love of the theater and entered the film-making industry. For a few years, he worked as an actor and in 1983 he directed his first movie, Underground Passage. His second movie, Terirem, won the Best Works and Filmography at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival.
The mid-1980s began a prolific period for Doxiadis. He wrote four novels: Parallel Life (Παράλληλη Ζωή - Parallili Zoi) in 1985, Macbeth (Μακαβέττας - Macavettas) in 1988, in 1992, Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture
(Ο θείος Πέτρος και η Εικασία του Γκόλντμπαχ - O Theios Petros kai i Eikasia tou Goldbach), which went on to become an international bestseller, and The Three Little Men (Τα τρία ανθρωπάκια - Ta Tria Anthropakia) in 1997. All four works were written in Greek
.
Doxiadis, fluent in both Greek and English
, translated Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture into English in 2000. Uncle Petros was published in Great Britain by Faber and Faber
, where it met great critical and commercial success, and in the U.S. by Bloomsbury USA. It has since been translated into over 20 languages.
His works in theater include The Tragic History of Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionist, a shadow-puppet musical, and a play called Seventeenth Night (Δέκατη έβδομη νύχτα - Dekati Evdomi Nychta), the subject of which is the theorems of Kurt Gödel
and the final days of the mathematician's life.
He has also translated plays from English into Greek, including Romeo and Juliet
(Ρωμαίος και Ιουλιέτα), Hamlet
(Άμλετ), both by Shakespeare
, and Mourning Becomes Electra
by Eugene O'Neill
.
Doxiadis' most recent project is the graphic novel
Logicomix
, co-written with Christos Papadimitriou
, a Computer Science
professor at the University of California, Berkeley
. Using Bertrand Russell
as its narrator and protagonist, this work examines the history of mathematics
, the 20th century, and, self-referentially
, the lives of the authors and the history of the project's creation. Logicomix was published in September 2009 in Great Britain, by Bloomsbury Publishing, and in the U.S. by Bloomsbury USA. Logicomix received laudatory reviews, including the San Francisco Chronicle
review which called it "imaginative, funny and gripping," and the book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List
in the category Paperback Graphic Books.
In recent years, Doxiadis has been studying the intersection of mathematics and narrative. In addition to his books Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture and Logicomix, which are works of literature that contain mathematical subject matter, Doxiadis has published a collection of interviews and essays on this subject in a work called From Paranoia to Algorithms (Από την Παράνοια στους Αλγόριθμους - Apo tin Paranoia stous Algorithmous), and in 2006 established a non-profit organization, Thales and Friends (Θαλής και Φίλοι - Thalis ke Fili), which has the aim of bridging the gap between the disciplines.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and raised in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) is a Greek writer.
Since his early years Doxiadis was drawn to mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and at the age of 15 he entered Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City to study maths. He later attended the École Pratique des Hautes Études
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he studied mathematical modeling of the nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
at the graduate level.
Later, Doxiadis returned to his love of the theater and entered the film-making industry. For a few years, he worked as an actor and in 1983 he directed his first movie, Underground Passage. His second movie, Terirem, won the Best Works and Filmography at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival.
The mid-1980s began a prolific period for Doxiadis. He wrote four novels: Parallel Life (Παράλληλη Ζωή - Parallili Zoi) in 1985, Macbeth (Μακαβέττας - Macavettas) in 1988, in 1992, Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture
Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture
Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture is a 1992 novel by Greek author Apostolos Doxiadis.It concerns a young man's interaction with his reclusive uncle, who sought to prove that any even number greater than two is the sum of two primes, which is a famous unsolved mathematics problem called...
(Ο θείος Πέτρος και η Εικασία του Γκόλντμπαχ - O Theios Petros kai i Eikasia tou Goldbach), which went on to become an international bestseller, and The Three Little Men (Τα τρία ανθρωπάκια - Ta Tria Anthropakia) in 1997. All four works were written in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
Doxiadis, fluent in both Greek and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, translated Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture into English in 2000. Uncle Petros was published in Great Britain by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, where it met great critical and commercial success, and in the U.S. by Bloomsbury USA. It has since been translated into over 20 languages.
His works in theater include The Tragic History of Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionist, a shadow-puppet musical, and a play called Seventeenth Night (Δέκατη έβδομη νύχτα - Dekati Evdomi Nychta), the subject of which is the theorems of Kurt Gödel
Kurt Gödel
Kurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
and the final days of the mathematician's life.
He has also translated plays from English into Greek, including Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(Ρωμαίος και Ιουλιέτα), Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(Άμλετ), both by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, and Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932...
by Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
.
Doxiadis' most recent project is the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Logicomix
Logicomix
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth is a graphic novel about the foundational quest in mathematics, written by Apostolos Doxiadis, author of Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture, and theoretical computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou of the University of California, Berkeley. Character design...
, co-written with Christos Papadimitriou
Christos Papadimitriou
Christos Harilaos Papadimitriou is a Professor in the Computer Science Division at the University of California, Berkeley, United States...
, a Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
professor at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Using Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
as its narrator and protagonist, this work examines the history of mathematics
History of mathematics
The area of study known as the history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of discoveries in mathematics and, to a lesser extent, an investigation into the mathematical methods and notation of the past....
, the 20th century, and, self-referentially
Self-reference
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding...
, the lives of the authors and the history of the project's creation. Logicomix was published in September 2009 in Great Britain, by Bloomsbury Publishing, and in the U.S. by Bloomsbury USA. Logicomix received laudatory reviews, including the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
review which called it "imaginative, funny and gripping," and the book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
in the category Paperback Graphic Books.
In recent years, Doxiadis has been studying the intersection of mathematics and narrative. In addition to his books Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture and Logicomix, which are works of literature that contain mathematical subject matter, Doxiadis has published a collection of interviews and essays on this subject in a work called From Paranoia to Algorithms (Από την Παράνοια στους Αλγόριθμους - Apo tin Paranoia stous Algorithmous), and in 2006 established a non-profit organization, Thales and Friends (Θαλής και Φίλοι - Thalis ke Fili), which has the aim of bridging the gap between the disciplines.