In August of 1859 Bernhard Riemann, a 32-year old mathematician, posed a deceptively simple question to the Berlin Academy: Is there a general rule for figuring out how many prime numbers there are? More than 150 years later, the solution to this critical problem eludes our grasp. 

Alternating chapters of extraordinarily lucid mathematical exposition with chapters of biography and history, Prime Obsession is a fascinating and fluent account of an epic mathematical mystery that continues to challenge and excite the world.