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Principles of (E)motion by Sara Read

Katy N.'s review for the 510 Club | April 2025

 

If you’re after a quick romantic fiction read with a mathematician lead, try Principles of (E)motion.

Former prodigy Meg Brightwood is a recluse, having quit her job as professor more than a decade ago due to chronic panic attacks and a culture of sexism at her university. Instead, she’s been caring for her grandmother and working on a (fictional) maths problem based on Navier-Stokes: Friedholt’s conjecture, or the so-called “Impossible Theorem.” On the day of her grandmother’s funeral, she has a breakthrough and produces a proof. It’s high stakes — a solution could solve major engineering problems and put an end to climate change — so everyone wants it.

Now Meg is faced with a dilemma. Out of the profession for so long, she fears nobody will believe it’s her work unless she presents it herself, but with crippling anxiety that feels impossible. To make matters worse, her father, an esteemed mathematics professor, intends to steal her credit.

Enter the love interest: knocked down by a car in front of Meg’s house. He’s a blacksmith, on the run from the law, and she had a crush on him when she last saw him 15 years ago. An unlikely pair, they begin to form a bond over their toxic family circumstances and become each other’s lovers and supporters.

The book doesn’t have any real maths in it, but is rather (as the author confirms in her endnotes) an “exploration of the mind and heart of a [mathematical] researcher.” It touches on themes of mental health and personal growth, and deals with experiences of sexism in the field of mathematics. Though handled well, I had a gripe here: the sexism felt a tad overdone (especially as the author is not writing from personal experience in the field) and could be off-putting for women considering academic mathematics.

Altogether though, with a satisfying plot well wrapped up, Read has, like her main character, solved her turbulence equation and written an expression… of a love for mathematics.

 

WHAT IS THE 510 CLUB?

The 510 Club is named after the Dewey Decimal classification for Mathematics. It is a book recommendation project facilitated by Mathateca in collaboration with Christchurch MathsJam. Each month we feature a mathematical book recommendation, whether that’s a novel, articles / essays, a puzzle book, textbook, biography... just as long as it features maths in some way. Read the above book at your leisure then feel free to comment your thoughts below, or come along to the following Christchurch MathsJam sessions to join in an informal maths/book chat with the reviewer.

We're always looking for suggestions! If you're interested in contributing a book rec one month, please email christchurch@mathsjam.com to sign up.