"Alexander is especially fascinated by the way powerful people took hold of a geometrical way of thinking and used it for their own ends . In always clear and lively prose, [he] devotes particular enthusiasm to [Versailles] . Alexander's account acquires thematic sinew as he traces the historical quest for some sort of rational city . Soon we are on native ground, in our own democracy, with its graph-paper-like facades, and our protagonist is Pierre-Charles L'Enfant. Portrayed with ardent sympathy and humor, the designer of Washington, D.C., appears inspired, cranky, insolent, perseverant--and thoroughly three-dimensional." --Dan Hofstadter, The Wall Street Journal "Lively .

Bracingly enthusiastic . A deep immersion into geometric determinism at its most entertaining." -- Kirkus "Alexander's lucid and convincingly argued book fully demonstrates how ideas ancient in origin continue to shape the contemporary world." -- Publishers Weekly "By crafting an argument as elegant as a Euclidean proof, Amir Alexander demonstrates that ancient Greek geometry helped shape our modern political systems, from kingdoms to republics to empires. This is intellectual history at its finest: illuminating, surprising, and a cracking good read." --Steven Strogatz, Professor of Mathematics, Cornell University, and author of Infinite Powers "Geometry is at the center of this retelling of the history of modernity. Amir Alexander brings his prodigious storytelling skills to the task, and the result is elegant, illuminating, and thoroughly entertaining." --Michael Harris, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University "I couldn't stop reading Amir Alexander's Proof! , an enlightening centuries-long tour that reveals the secret geometry inscribed in our cities, our politics, and even our gardens.

" --Jordan Ellenberg, Professor of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking "Looking with Amir Alexander at the great world cities, we now see, beneath their political regimes, the imprint of Euclidean geometry. In this dazzling book we grasp for the first time the underlying rationality and order built into the geography of ancient and Renaissance Rome, Paris (inspired by Versailles), Washington,D.C., Berlin, imperial Saigon--the list is long. Vastly different forms of government and power took inspiration from the unity made possible only by geometry." --Margaret Jacob, Professor of History, UCLA.