When Ed Scheinerman’s 7-year-old granddaughter asked him, “What is the number before infinity?”—he knew he was onto something. There isn’t a number before infinity, but that impossibility sparked an idea: Could he take readers on a journey through the many faces of infinity?
Scheinerman, a professor of applied mathematics and statistics and vice dean for special projects at the Whiting School, is the author of A Guide to Infinity: Ten Mathematical Journeys. The book, which explains concepts of infinity in accessible ways, was published in early 2026 by Yale University Press.
Scheinerman hopes readers will walk away both unafraid of infinity and inspired by the creativity inherent in mathematics. “Mathematics isn’t just about solving equations,” he explains. “It’s about inventing ideas, exploring them, and seeing how they connect to the world.
— SALENA FITZGERALD