ABSTRACT
My favorite book does not exist-at least, not as far as I know. Paul Erdős often talked about the Book of Proofs, the
Book into which God had written all the perfect proofs of mathematical theorems. Of course, since the Book is in God’s hands, it is not available to us. But, according to Erdős, when God means well with us, he lets us glance at the Book for a moment. And that is one of the greatest pleasures for a mathematician: to see-or, even better, to ¤nd-a perfect proof. Mathematicians, said Erdős, don’t really have to believe in God, but in the Book, yes.
