A Mathematician's Apology by G.H. Hardy
Published 1940 · 25,000 words · about 2 hours at an average pace · Memoir & Autobiography, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science & Nature
How hard is A Mathematician's Apology to read?
A Mathematician's Apology scores 30 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 35 out of 100
- Mathematical concepts. Elegant English prose.
- Sentence structure: 35 out of 100
- Abstraction: 48 out of 100
- Abstract reflections on mathematical beauty and creativity.
- Information density: 50 out of 100
- Compressed meditation. Dense with ideas in a short essay.
- Narrative indirection: 15 out of 100
- Essayistic. Moves between argument and memoir.
- Symbolic density: 18 out of 100
- Mathematics as art. Cricket as metaphor for competition.
- Ironic distance: 18 out of 100
- Melancholy self-awareness. Dry British wit.
- Resolution withholding: 20 out of 100
- No resolution for the loss of creative power.
- Structural complexity: 20 out of 100
- Short essay. Loosely organized reflections.
How A Mathematician's Apology is regarded
A Mathematician's Apology holds a literary regard score of 58 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.