Dr. Riemann's Zeros

The Riemann Hypothesis seems so far removed from everyday life that those who aren't specialists in number theory might have difficulty in understanding why a million dollars is being offered for its proof. In Dr. Riemann's Zeros Karl Sabbagh gives a well presented account of this area of mathematics in a way that can be followed by non-mathematicians. Sabbagh packs plenty of information into this short book - the meaning of the mathematics, the origins and history of the hypothesis, some of the current work on it, and how similar sorts of mathematics, such as Fermat's last theorem, were finally proved.

In particular the book has quite a bit on the work of Louis de Branges who proved the Bieberbach, and claims to have a proof of the Riemann Hypothesis - but other mathematicians aren't so sure. Sabbagh explains the problems which arise in the checking of such a proof.

The book has a bit of mathematics, but is aimed at those with very little mathematical experience - I think that those with a good grasp of school mathematics who want to get a glimpse into the work done on the hypothesis might do better with a different book. But if you want an easy to read overview of the different ways mathematicians have approached such problems then you should take a look at this book.

Note: in the USA this book is entitled The Riemann Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics