I will be 100% honest with you I did not think I'd enjoy this book going into it and I was right. But - Not because this book is bad. The concept is interesting why is the world the way it is, shape wise, that is. The authors attempt to explain this with mathetmics and if that's your thing cool. For me - it became a lot of jargon. However, my jargon is someones shakespeare so I can see there being a space for this book.

A very interesting autobiography of a fascinating person! It is at times very technical, but with some knowledge of geometry and interest in mathematics it is definitely understandable. The author's personal journey is inspiring and I enjoyed the structure of the book, too.

An interesting autobiography with lots of details of figures and events. more than the title suggest just Don’t expect to learn much about “the Universe’s Hidden Geometry”. but still worth a read

I enjoyed this book although some of it was complicated for me to read. I like the way it was told however. It felt like a very intelligent and wise friend was sitting there and talking to you. It was a heavy read, especially with my math skills not being the best, but I enjoyed it and learned several interesting things.

A very interesting read. At once a simply written biography and complicated intellectual exercise if one is not familiar with the deeper intricacies of mathematics and geometry. Luckily, I am one who believes that high-fallutin' knowledge beyond one's normal ken can be absorbed into the consciousness by a sort of osmosis haha. An interesting tale of cross cultural experience combined with a literal reaching for the stars, something we might all aspire to. Five stars.

Do not read this book unless you have a reasonably good grounding in the mathematics relating to topology! If you don't you will be lost. [Hint: If you do tackle Prof. Yau's book you should just skip the first two chapters in which you will learn only useless facts like -- Dr. Yau's unwanted nickname when he started primary school was "Little Mushroom."

“I spent a whole day without eating and the whole night without sleeping in order to think, but it was of no use. I got nothing out of it. Thinking cannot compare with studying” - Confucius

Shing-Tung Yau along with Steve Nadis take us on a journey of a life in the pursuit of the universes hidden geometry. Their journey goes from China to Hong Kong and leads to San Francisco and Berkeley. Who knew looking for a topic for your dissertation at Berkeley would lead to a life long study in geometry. I found his realizations profound how Shing-Tung Yau made his decisions. This is a wonderful read for not just mathematician it goes beyond that it goes to the equation within all of us and the search we are all on to solve the Shape of Life. This wonderfully written book for a mathematician is a dream with the equations and answers with steps included allows others to understand the complex thinking of Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis and why they found their conclusions are both profound and completely unique not that no one has not thought of them before but the way they found the conclusions was what made them so profound. The deeper meaning beyond the math makes this by far one of my most favorite books of all time.

DNF @ 45%

I downloaded this book on NetGalley cause I thought it would be an interesting peek into the life of a mathematician, a scientist - a life I can't really imagine, in my typical day job. While I can say that yes, it was that, in a way, I also have to say that I don't know if a non-mathematician can enjoy it all that much.

The autobiography is told very directly and uniformly - as if a person was actually just telling you what happened in their life, year by year. That's not all bad, of course, but it doesn't quite keep you turning the pages. It didn't bother me that much, but it might bother some people. It's certainly not the same as reading a memoir by a writer or an artist, and I am still debating whether I DNFed because of that, or because it spiralled into talk about mathematical theories that are way beyond me (yes, it's definitely me! Not just the book! I'm not quite the right audience, I guess. But the right audience might be... very small?)

However, there were parts that I enjoyed, particularly at the start of the book - the start of author's life, him growing up very poor in rural China and Hong Kong were very interesting, and the story of how he made it was interesting too - but all the meetings with the mathematicians or the actual math being discussed was not for me. I would have enjoyed concepts being talked about, but it was much too gritty for me. I imagine that the people who will read this will have a much deeper interest in math than I do though, so it might go down much better if that's the case.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy through NetGalley in exchange to my honest review. This did not affect my opinion.

Mathematician Shing-Tung Yau is known for developing a mathematical foundation for string theory. By considering the universe in terms of geometry Yau has provided new insight into black holes, as well as the stability of the universe.

I picked up The Shape of a Life for review because I was intrigued by Yau’s work and the part his cultural and disadvantaged background had to play in his passion for geometry and the way he forged conceptual developments in a field I had considered completely uninspiring at school.

The shape of a life is well balanced in that it gives enough of a flavour of Shing-Tung Yau’s work to pique a non-mathematician’s interest without inducing mental overheating and provide and interesting human story.

As I have already admitted, geometry appeared pointless, little more than something you had to do in order to jump through the hoops required for secondary school exams. Getting a peek into Yau’s world made me realise geometry’s possible applications and the potential beauty of the mathematics which really gets to grips with shapes, particularly when applied to conceptual advances in physics which examines the fabric of the universe.

But this is also a book about Yau the man, the trials and tribulations of his early life and, as a successful academic, his experience of the difficulties of navigating the complex politics of academia while pursuing his life-long passion.

Yau’s mother is an inspiration for any mother out there who strives to see their children surpass them. Although I should think few would sacrifice as much as she did, by choosing not to farm her children out to earn a living which would have made her comfortable, but which would have prevented them from reaching their potential.

Yau reveals himself to be an independent thinker and intellectual sponge from an early age. Unfortunately the former quality cost him dear in crucial entrance exams for a school which would have positioned him much more quickly into the right academic stream. Exiled from mainland China where academics were denigrated rather than respected, Yau’s intellectual father could not achieve his potential earning power due to lack of recognised qualifications in Hong Kong. The lack of money meant Yau could not initially be educated as well as he should have been. Reliant on his own form of logic, Yau could simply not make the grade for scholarships to the right sort of schools. But it was this impeccable logic, his curiosity and the right people finally appreciating his potential, which finally set him on the right path. This portion of the book makes an interesting read to anyone who has struggled to fit into the standard conceptual processes that are the staple of an education system.

Once at university and from a background which considers education something of wonder, not a backdrop to extensive partying, Yau threw himself into every lecture going, absorbing every detail, until he found his calling.

Before long Yau had achieved his dream of being an academic. Although his achievements make for an interesting read. His constant need to pick his way through the academic political minefield is fascinating. Yau comes over not as an instigator of intrigue, but someone who has learned to spot the signs of trouble over the years and then attempt to circumnavigate them. Not an easy thing to do in a competitive field where publishing your conceptual advances first is the name of the game and in fighting would appear to be common place.

In all this is a book which introduced me in an entertaining way to a field of mathematics I would not normally have given a second thought to, but also to a man spanning two very different cultures and finding a way to bring them both together.

"Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians." It's a fascinating one.

I don't usually read biographies, let alone biographies of mathematicians. But this particular book caught my attention with its description and it's similar timeline to when my father-in-law got his PhD in Math (his PhD adviser is in fact one of the names mentioned) so, on a whim, I decided I would read it.

I am so glad I spent some time with this book. There were layers and layers of interesting stories and learnings for me. Even though there is a lot of math in the book, much of which I didn't understand, I still deeply enjoyed reading Yau's journey. I had never heard of this mathematician before and now I feel like I have had a window into math, or a type of math, at a certain time in history. Of course, this is all written from one person's perspective, with one person's biases but it was still interesting.

In my experience, solving hard math problems takes hard work, and there's no way around it, unless the problem is rather trivial.

I loved this because I think it encourages hard work and discourages the belief that we are born "geniuses" at math.

There were so many opportunistic coincidences in Yau's early life that culminated in his ability to end up in the United States (and his ability to study math vigorously) and it made me realize that we all have a lot of random coincidences in our lives and what might look like a disaster (not getting into the any schools for example) might turn out to be the thing that sets the course of your life positively (as it did for Yang.) and also that a single person can completely change the course of someone's life. There are many who played a major role in getting Yau to where he could really thrive. Like Salaff who worked extraordinarily hard to get him into Berkeley.

"I have spent a whole day without eating and a whole night without sleeping in order to think, but it was of no use, I got nothing out of it. Thinking cannot compare with studying."


It was quite depressing to me how incredibly political academia is. I knew this of course but as someone who has spent all her life in corporate America, with a brief stint in non profit land, it was depressing to see how academia can put all of the greed and political shenanigans to shame. All that bickering and blocking each other's paths. What a waste of incredible mental talent. (I know there's a lot of cooperation, too, which is also clear in the book.)

This was a really enjoyable read for me, despite (or maybe because of) being very different than my usual fare.

gratitudes to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a great book. I was a bit concerned at the beginning that it was going to be a book hyping string theory, but the book is much more than that. It covers the whole life of this mathematician, and I find his story to be fascinating. It gives a wonderful look into how mathematics has shaped his life. I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys the history of mathematics.

The Shape of a Life is the autobiography of Shing-Tung Yau who grew up in poverty and became a world-famous mathematician. Being born, in 1949 in China, just before the Communist revolution began was not a good beginning; but being born into a loving family concerned for his future was his good fortune. Shing-Tung Yau describes his life as “one mathematician’s search for the universe’s hidden geometry which may store the hidden dimensions of our universe.”

His family moved to Hong Kong a few months after he was born. His father died when Shing-Tung Yau was fourteen years old. This traumatic event caused Shing-Tung Yau to apply himself to school work, and his love of mathematics began to develop. At the age of 21, Shing-Tung Yau was sponsored by Stephen Salaff and Shiing-Shen Chern “a powerful member of the Berkeley Mathematics Department.” He enrolled in Berkeley College at the University of California, in 1969. Shing-Tung Yau made the most of this opportunity by immersing himself in studies, enrolling in some courses, and auditing many others. During this time, he met Yu-Yun, his future wife. Shing-Tung Yau obtained his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1971, and Yu-Yun obtained her Ph.D. in Physics. Shing-Tung Yau won other awards during his career, like The Fields Medal (the equivalent of a Nobel prize in Mathematics) which he won for his proof of the Calibi-Yau manifold.

Shing-Tung Yau and his co-author Steve Nadis have developed a unique writing style. It mixes descriptions of life in Hong Kong, the US and China with achievements in mathematics in an easy-going, conversable style. We learn about Shing-Tung Yau's connections with other mathematicians and how his collaborative style benefited him and his fellow mathematicians. We, the reader, can connect with Shing-Tung Yau via geometry; we all know the shape of a triangle, and perhaps remember calculating angles and sides and proving a theorem. Some of us will understand much more than that, and some of us will appreciate just knowing shapes.

As a man of two countries, Shing-Tung Yau is not entirely at home in either. He has a third home, and that is mathematics. Mathematics is a universal language that can be understood and communicated by all who study it no matter what their mother tongue may be. The Shape of a Life is fascinating to read, even by a layman in mathematics. Perhaps all those symbols on the blackboard in school might have meant more if we also knew about the life of Shing-Tung Yau. If we had known that we could measure the universe and make brilliant discoveries, perhaps the whole process might have seemed more exciting.

If there is a downside revealed in The Shape of a Life; it is undoubtedly about the disagreements, the politics and the power struggles that came Shing-Tung Yau’s way, even though they were not of his making. Primarily he kept to his principals and consistently respected and worked with his Chinese mentor and others in the professions.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because it opens up an esoteric world to its readers. I recommend it to many diverse types of readers, people who like math, science, autobiographies, non-fiction, art, and YA. I think it is a book for everyman, even people who prefer light reading can read the autobiographical parts and skim over the mathematics. It might not suit readers of fiction, but then to borrow a phrase truth is often more magical than fiction.

I hope it is permissible to add this URL to the review because the beautiful graphics of calibi-yau by Hanson are an integral part of the story. http://aleph.se/andart2/math/calabi-yau-and-hansons-surfaces/