The New York Times Interviews Faculty Member Eugenia Cheng

The New York Times recently interviewed SAIC's Scientist-in-Residence Eugenia Cheng for their "By the Book" column, which features "writers on literature and the literary life." Cheng—who has penned three books, How to Bake Pi (2015), Beyond Infinity (2018), and The Art of Logic (2019)—has a fourth book that will be released August 25, titled X+Y: A Mathematician's Manifesto for Rethinking Gender. A mathematician and classical pianist, Cheng's books have become known for exploring how mathematic principles can explain social justice issues. "It’s easier to 'bridge' science and art when you don’t really think there’s a gap between them in the first place," Cheng observed. "The boundaries between subjects are really artificial constructs by humans, like the boundaries between colors in a rainbow." Among the topics covered, Cheng discusses her favorite book that's rarely talked about, the best book she's read recently, reading habits, and the types of books to which she's drawn.