The book spends a lot of time on people with connections to Coxeter. At times, these connections can be slight. As a result of this, the actual developments in Coxeter's life appear to take on a secondary role.

Nonetheless, the book gives a fascinating portrait of a fascinating mathematician. It made me want to seek out some of Coxeter's work! ( )

This very well researched biography of Donald Coxeter was an enjoyable enough read but, unfortunately, felt a little too unstructured for my tastes. Coxeter's life is recounted essentially chronological but within each phase of his life the exposition of his work jumps all over the place. The copious footnotes only partially prevent the book zooming off on too many tangents (no pun intended).

Criticisms aside, I would say that this biography successfully did the one thing I think all biographies of artists, writers, or scientists should do, and that is make the reader want to track down the work of the subject. In this sense, Roberts' presentation was great as I ordered a copy of Coxeter's "Regular Polytopes" before I had even made it halfway through her book. ( )

This first biography of the late Univ of Toronto mathematician should also be the last -- it's that thorough and complete (and interesting).

The footnotes are extensive. The bibliography is thorough. But I found the book a bit wanting. I want to buy the '64 math book on "Projective geometry" by Coxter, and get a collection of his papers.
The appendices provided in the book are well-intended, but Conway'd proof of Morley's theorem is provided without sufficient labeling or coloring.
Overall, a nicely written book about a unique geometer, someone praised by Freeman Dyson and followed by JHConway cannot fail to be a trailblazer.
His Regular Polytopes is of course his magnum opus.
The biography is well-intended, but in this reviewer's opinion came up a bit short in flow and heavy mathematical substance. Three stars. ( )

National Magazine Award for a Toronto Life profile of Coxeter

'...latter half of the 20th century, geometry largely fell out of favor within the mathematical community...Roberts so well describes in her first book, Donald Coxeter (1907-2003), a University of Toronto mathematician, almost singlehandedly preserved and advanced the discipline through hard work and acute insights.' Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. Publisher's Weekly 6/26/2006