PoinCare's riddle was a math question posed by a French mathematician that supposedly nobody could ever solve and was the math puzzle of the century. Many a brave data cruncher took of this forum and tried valiantly reiterating their often wrong answer with hypothesis few understood. A book written by George Szipiro loos at the controversy and fight for the prize money in solving this difficult and perplexing question.
Henri Poincare had wondered if an ant crawling on a large surface could tell if the surface was flat, round, or sphere and somehow tis ridiculous poderance was the top mathematical question of the age. Generations of folks tried to solve this riddle with a math formula and pretty much this book is full of bore and mathematical bore that translates into a boring book. 
Professor Szpiro goes through many men who thought they had the answer some spending years of agonizing research to get an answer if an ant on a basketball could tell its on a ball. Ants are not dumb creatures and maybe if you miniaturized a ball and let them loose on a leaf they can get a better understanding of shapes and object and determine for themselves if the world I flat. Multiple dimensions and alternative universe exists through the eyes of all creatures and I imagine for an ant and part of their universe it would be as exciting as being in one of Szpiro's math classrooms. Ants and insect s through don't know any better and wouldn't care for this math problem as they just want to get down and dirty in the Earth with other ants I would of thought the enigma of the space of shape would of been an excellent read but if all indications are clear I imagine professor Szpiro's classes at Hebrew University are just 
as uninteresting as this book to focus so much time and attention to a mathematicians question on ant observation. In fact, I have a better mathematical question of an ant crawling I have often wondered while battling ants in the world of bug extermination and property. How long would if be in an any tried to cross the street Kinnickinnic Ave in Milwaukee heading towards the Bay View Pub where bartender Baxter Lomax works part time when away from the Itasca Inn. I calculate using a formula of the Stallings Conjucture and the basic equation of relative existence and variance the ant would be smooshed by a vehicle within 15 feet of the curb at a ratio of 3:1 expotentinality and the ant would soon realize it was on a flat surface. 
Henri Pincare was drunk on fine French wine when he thought of his Poincare dilemma and obviously had hoarded wealth through his lifetime to actually put up a prize money to a question he knew couldn't be answered still sober enough to realize how ridiculous it was even to ponder. any math question pertaining to how ants react to whether they realize they are on a flat or round surface is not really a math question and just one that old Frenchmen inebriated on fine wine will dream up and in Poincare's case put their money where their mouth is. 
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