A Fields medalist recounts his lifelong transnational effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe.
Harvard geometer and Fields medalist Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Beginning with an impoverished childhood in China and Hong Kong, Yau takes readers through his doctoral studies at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War protests, his Fields Medal–winning proof of the Calabi conjecture, his return to China, and his pioneering work in geometric analysis. This new branch of geometry, which Yau built up with his friends and colleagues, has paved the way for solutions to several important and previously intransigent problems. With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, this book offers readers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics.

20世纪以来，美国何以兴，苏联何以衰？作为近代文明的发源地，欧洲向何处去？
《冷眼向洋》书系从19世纪留给人类社会的问题谈起，讲述百年间美国、欧洲、俄罗斯走过的不同道路，这三块地区的经验，都各自不同的方式、在不同时期对全世界产生重大影响，无论是正面的还是负面的。
书系没有拘泥于历史事件和国际关系的单纯叙述，而是从社会发展的既成事实入手，透过沉浮兴衰的现象，深入探讨对20世纪历史走向起重大影响的精神、思想体系和发展模式。增补修订版添加了许多重要内容，既有对历史的进一步追溯，又有当代新的发展，但初版的基本取向不变。
“全球化”在20世纪浮出了水面，但它绝不是一片芳草蓝天；在这看不到尽头的进程中，到处都是荆棘丛生——人类还远没有达到有能力“自治”的境界。“究天人之际，通古今之变”，眼看世界，心想中国，作者没有须臾离开对中国命运的关注，让历史告诉当代，让世界映照中国，作为参照，引人深思。