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July 16
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Robert
gave
 
to:
The Quotable Atheist: Ammunition for Non-Believers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and Those Generally Hell-Bound (Paperback)
by Jack Huberman
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
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July 14
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Robert
gave
to:
The Future of an Illusion (Paperback)
by Sigmund Freud
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert
gave
to:
Civilization and Its Discontents (Paperback)
by Sigmund Freud, Peter Gay
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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July 03
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Robert
gave
to:
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People (Paperback)
by Lenny Bruce
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my rating:
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read in June, 1971
Robert said:
"Read this a long time ago and with very little exposure to the author's work. What little I had heard was impressive. It is a permanent blot on our society that the bluenoses where allowed to effectively hound him to death. It is interesting that ...more
Read this a long time ago and with very little exposure to the author's work. What little I had heard was impressive. It is a permanent blot on our society that the bluenoses where allowed to effectively hound him to death. It is interesting that this has not occurred again despite onslaught of many more and truly filthier comics whose work shocks briefly but seldom has any of the redeeming intellectual quality or actual wit found in Lenny Bruce. (The late Sam Kinison comes to mind, not much to offer beyond his well crafted build up to a scream. There are others and worse who do not come to mind simply because they are not sufficiently memorable. Shock gets old quickly and simply raises the bar (or it is lowering it?) for the next one.) ...less
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Robert
is currently reading:
Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem (Paperback)
by Simon Singh
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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Robert said:
"In progress. Appears to be more promising than the other FLT book just finished since it was done in conjunction with a TV show about the proof and involves more direct interaction with Wiles and other mathematicians involved. It is also at least t...more
In progress. Appears to be more promising than the other FLT book just finished since it was done in conjunction with a TV show about the proof and involves more direct interaction with Wiles and other mathematicians involved. It is also at least twice as long, it remains to be determined if the additional bulk is filled with substantial material rather than a fuller recitation of the well known historical boilerplate than filled so much of the shorter book....less
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June 29
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Robert
gave
to:
Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem (Paperback)
by Amir D. Azcel
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: those interested in the history but not much detail
read in June, 2008
Robert said:
"A typical general reader math book on the low math content side. Admittedly this particular topic (a proof that runs about 200 pages of terse writing and mathematical symbols) is hard to describe briefly, and this is a very brief book, or with much ...more
A typical general reader math book on the low math content side. Admittedly this particular topic (a proof that runs about 200 pages of terse writing and mathematical symbols) is hard to describe briefly, and this is a very brief book, or with much detail accessible to people who have not acquired the equivalent of a decent graduate level understanding of mathematics. About half of the book is a light survey of very familiar (to the point in some cases of being boiler plate for books likes this) biography of famous mathematicians whose work touched on areas related to Fermat's Last theorem (Fermat (obviously), Euler, Gauss, Poincare, Fibonacci, Archimedes, Galois, Pythagoras, Diophantus, Fourier, Cantor vs Kronecker, Bolyai and Lobachevsky and some probably less well known to the general public, Kummer, Dirichet, Monge, Dedekind). The rest concerns more recent mathematicians and their work (especially the hardy post WWII Japanese mathematicians who achieved important results under unusually trying circumstances) that contributed directly to Andrew Wiles ultimate proof of the theorem.
It tells a good story of the secrecy and paranoia behind the scenes, driven by the twin concerns of being subjected to premature and distracting attention, not to mention derision and ultimately humiliation if unsuccessful, once word gets out that one has the nerve to work seriously one of the most famous unsolved problems of all time, and the real risk that someone will get there first and, worse, publish first after getting some hint of the way to go from the primary researcher. (Tom Lehrer's famous song "Lobachevsky" tells the story of appropriated results quite well even if it's namesake was only chosen for lyrical convenience not historical accuracy.) The story was actually quite dramatic since a flaw was found shortly
after Wiles' boldly theatrical and unrefereed presentation at Cambridge. There is a happy ending when Wiles finds the way out with the additional satisfaction of finding it in the research he had originally expected to be the source of the proof but had given up a few years earlier.
One point that is well made is that this proof required new discoveries and the complex assembly of two centuries of discoveries that uncovered many deep and complex connections between what had been regarded as utterly separate branches of mathematics that have moved number theory forward since the times of Euler and Gauss. We will never know if Fermat had a proof that just wouldn't fit in the margin of his book. It is my opinion that if so many gifted mathematicians in the century or two after Fermat could not find a proof, the great Gauss took a good look at it and pronounced the grapes to be sour and the huge array of distinct recent developments made by so many mathematicians that had to be proved or combined by Wiles to get the present proof, there is no way that Fermat had a full proof of the theorem, but rather he had probably proven a few of the cases by the customary techniques of the day and assumed that the rest could be accomplished by more of the same and moved on. Mathematics was much less rigorous in those days evidenced by another Fermat "result" concerning prime numbers that was eventually disproved by Euler. At least the "Last" theorem turns out to be true which is what I think most mathematicians expected. (Wiles also created a glaring anachronism in one episode of Star Trek TNG in which Picard, in the 24th century, mentions Fermat's Last Theorem as one of those mysteries that have never been solved.)
Wiles' result leaves the Goldbach conjecture (every even number is the sum of two prime numbers) as the last great well known and easily understood unsolved problem. Thanks to recent books and movies about John Forbes Nash, the general public is now more aware the other most famous unsolved problem, the Riemann Hypothesis, the problem that supposedly drove the 30-ish Nash over the edge in his unsuccessful pursuit of a Field medal. (And few general reading books about the Riemann Hypothesis itself have just come out as well.) But "all the non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part 1/2" just does not have the simple appeal of the Goldbach problem since only math students are likely to know what the zeta function is or why anyone ever discovered it or cares about it.
If you can find it I recommend the Nova program about the proof as it includes an explanation of the key recent developments that is as good as that in this book (minus the long historical build up and famiilar anecdotes) and live interview footage of Wiles himself....less
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June 04
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Robert
gave
to:
I Don't Believe in Atheists (Hardcover)
by Chris Hedges
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended to Robert by:
no one, I found it in due course.
recommended for: Anyone interested in the current media attention on atheism and fundamentalism.
read in May, 2008
Robert said:
"Prior review withdrawn for revision. I have read the first three of the four major "new atheist" books listed below whose authors are the subject of this book: The End of Faith- Sam Harris, god is not GREAT-Christopher Hitchens, The God De...more
Prior review withdrawn for revision. I have read the first three of the four major "new atheist" books listed below whose authors are the subject of this book: The End of Faith- Sam Harris, god is not GREAT-Christopher Hitchens, The God Delusion-Richard Dawkins, Breaking the Spell-Daniel Dennett). There is a great deal here worthy of a well considered summary.
Strongest point:
Repudiation of exceptionalism and the utopian worldview in any form. It is common to both religious and secular (in particular "new atheist") fundamentalist views. (I submit it is embedded in all widely held religious faiths, at least the western variety rooted in Judaism and that it is the main reason that the future catastrophe of resource depletion and overpopulation will not be averted. The mass of humanity believes in a story of preordained human ascendance (often with their tribe or religion as the sole beneficiary) with a happy ending. No matter what is really going on, God will come through for (some of) his beloved humans to whom he granted dominion over the physical world.)
Weakest points:
Fuzzy definition of what he considers the all important concepts of "the sacred", "real religion" and "mystery" that he asserts are poorly understood and glibly ignored or undervalued by facile new atheist pundits.
In this he is unapologetically and forcefully what Sam Harris might describe as a virtuoso cherry picker. He rejects a great deal of what many regard as core elements of various faiths beyond mere literal interpretation and keeps what he likes and is not too clear about exactly what that is.
...less
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June 03
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Robert
gave
to:
What Every Person Should Know About War (Paperback)
by Chris Hedges
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"It is exactly what the title says. I was inspired by an earlier book written after the useless carnage of WWI but withdrawn by its author as WWII began to avoid an adverse impact on recruitment. Both books had the same format, question and answer, ...more
It is exactly what the title says. I was inspired by an earlier book written after the useless carnage of WWI but withdrawn by its author as WWII began to avoid an adverse impact on recruitment. Both books had the same format, question and answer, and same intention. That intention was to lay out the cold facts about existence as a solider in combat without philosophical, ideological, or political content. Everyone who has not been in actual combat (EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETED EXTENSIVE TRAINING WITH DISTINCTION WITH A NICE COLLECTION OF MERIT BADGES TO PROVE IT) should read this fairly short book. It is a bit dry as it lacks any element of storytelling or enthusiasm for a cause.
That is its virtue. I especially recommend it to those who are enthusiastic advocates of war, particularly the neo-conservative elective corporatized for-profit type being practiced today, from the safety of their homes and offices who will not read it, lest they be exposed to the reality that comes inextricably bound to the project and thereby become less patriotic in the current use of the term. This review has a position, the book does not....less
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May 11
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Robert
gave
to:
Preferred Risk (Vintage Dell SF, R114)
by Lester Del Rey, Frederik Pohl
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my rating:
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recommended to Robert by:
Mother
recommended for: anyone
read in May, 2008
Robert said:
"Recommended long ago by my mother. I was missing one issue from the original serialization in my parents' collection of science fiction magazines from the 50's. Very annoying. So I found an aging paperback to finally read it.
The story presents ...more
Recommended long ago by my mother. I was missing one issue from the original serialization in my parents' collection of science fiction magazines from the 50's. Very annoying. So I found an aging paperback to finally read it.
The story presents the interesting premise of a united and peaceful, if sterile and not quite perfectly peaceful, world order has come out of the chaos of near annihilation by the work of a great global insurance company (the Company) that runs everything with the goal of minimizing losses on claims. Every aspect of this society is based on insurance. One's meals are covered by the Blue Plate plan (class A if one is fortunate, most get by on class B or C cuisine). One in insured against war and catastrophe under the Blue Bolt plan. etc.
The protagonist is total Company man, an adjuster on assigment in Naples to help with the overload of claims caused by the recent limited nuclear exchange between Naples and Sicily. (This world is not quite perfectly peaceful, the Company apparently allows this so that people will have a reason to keep up their policies. I wonder why the Company which successfully all but controls access to nuclear materials, chooses such an extreme and costly way to market their policies, rather than allow a little conventional war. The reason seems be part of making the plot work.) Unknown to him, he has also been brought in by the principal bad guy, a high ranking officer of The Company, to infiltrate and betray a resistance group. As he meets more people outside the system he slowly, ever so slowly, comes to realize that there is something rotten in the Home Office, and that everything the Company does is not for the common good. He is soon plunged into a sequence of events, adventures and near disasters that leaves him in charge of the future and in possession of the beautiful woman of the resistance that he meets early on.
This is better than average example of a basic science fiction pulp novel scheme. Better because its premise is ingenious and still relevant. Better because it does manage to perserve much mystery about what's what as its first person narrative only lets us in on things as the protagonist learns them. Better because it manages to provide a positive ending despite many of the worst things, such as the entire world being polluted with nuclear fallout with a very long half-life, that could happen happening. And lastly because it does not start off with the hoary cliche of putting the protagonists name in the first sentence which seems standard (even mandated by the editors perhaps) in this genre.
It does employ a major Deus Ex Machina in the form of an adjunct character who has the unexplained ability to regenerate limbs like a salamander and generally recovers from almost any insult (like radiation poisoning, long term sedation etc) that would kill or disable ordinary people, at the price of having a large and insatiable appetite. He is introduced to the story very neatly as the protagonist's first job in Naples. The Company wants him stopped because he keeps collecting large double indemnity claims for the accidental loss of limbs, limbs that he regrows and loses again and again with fully paid up insurance each time.
When I found it in some old Galaxy magazines this story was being promoted as the winner of a writing contest. This is a bit suspicious when one considers that the author Edson McCann is a pseudonym for two established insiders, Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey. How many entries were there in this so-called contest? It reeks of hype based on the false promise of a fine new talent being revealed from of a mass of contestants....less
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April 29
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Robert
marked as to-read:
The Pleasures of the Torture Chamber (Hardcover)
by John Swain
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"No review as yet. Research item as it is a major source in The End of Faith. It does make the point that while torture had been around for some time, it took the Roman Catholic church to really bring it forward and refine it into the standar...more
No review as yet. Research item as it is a major source in The End of Faith. It does make the point that while torture had been around for some time, it took the Roman Catholic church to really bring it forward and refine it into the standard instrument of applied political power that we know today....less
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