The Joy of Abstraction: An Exploration of Math, Category Theory, and Life

Eugenia Cheng (may her tribe increase!)Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,And saw, within the moonlight in her room,An angel writing in a book of gold.Exceeding peace had made Eugenia bold,And to the presence in the room she said,"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,Answered, "The names of those who love Mathematics.""And is mine one?" said Eugenia. "Nay, not so,"Replied the angel. Eugenia spoke more low,But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,Write me as one that loves her fellow men."The angel wrote, and vanished. The next nightIt came again with a great wakening light,And showed the names whom Mathematics had blest,And lo! Eugenia’s name led all the rest.Leigh Hunt would probably forgive the mangling of his magnificent poem for he would agree with the sentiments (he would certainly be fascinated by Category Theory were he alive today). To write a book like this takes a) Absolute mastery of the subject, b) Love of one's fellow man to be willing to put so much effort into sharing the joy of the subject and c) A genius for conveying very difficult ideas and making them comprehensible. All of us readers benefit from Eugenia Cheng's experience in teaching children and artists - the patience with which she develops the ideas in this book is admirable (and necessary) and the overall effort is deserving of the highest praise.