Tag: mathematics

Book of Nothing

gr4c5Leave a comment

Barrow, John D. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe. Pantheon Books, 2000.

Reason read: January is supposed to be the month you clean the slate. A fresh start with nothing remaining from the previous year.

If you want to fill your head with trivia to use as a neat party trick, read and retain interesting facts from The Book of Nothing. There is a plethora to chose from. You can start with knowing that a guy named Al-Kharizmi came up with the practice of grouping numerals in threes, separated by commas. Sound familiar? William Shakespeare, if you read his works carefully, explores the concept of nothing in Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. The study of nothing helped scientists to understand barometric pressure. I could go on and on.
In short, The Book of Nothing is the exploration of the concept of nothing from every angle, but with a subtle sense of humor. Don’t believe me? Read the notes section of The Book of Nothing and you’ll see. Barrow’s comments are great.
The deepest pleasure I gleaned from reading The Book of Nothing was the myriad of quotations Barrow used from every walk of life. To illustrate his points Barrow quoted philosophers, educators, historians, musicians, artists, playwrights, mathematicians, the BBC, activists, scientists, psychologists, physicists, astronomers, comedians, even a Canadian naval radio conversation (which was my favorite, in case you were wondering).

Confessional: I had a hard time slogging my way through The Book of Nothing. Even the structure of modern mathematics was mind-boggling to me. Math and science were my least favorite subjects ibn school. The only word I really felt comfortable with was Boolean.

Author fact: Barrow wrote a ton of science and mathematics books. I am only reading the Book of Nothing for the Challenge.

Book trivia: The Book of Nothing is chock full of interesting illustrations and quotations, ancient and current.

Play list: Al Jolson, the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Cole Porter’s “Heaven Knows”, Queen, and Kris Kristofferson.

Nancy said: Pearl did not say anything specific about The Book of Nothing.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Zero: This Will Mean Nothing To You” (p 256).

Moneyball: the Art of Winning an Unfair Game

gr4c5Leave a comment

Lewis, Michael. Moneyball: the Art of Winning an Unfair Game. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004.

Reason read: the World Series is held in October every year. Read in honor of baseball’s biggest moment.

On the surface, Moneyball is about the Oakland Athletics baseball team. They don’t have enough money to buy the big name players and yet they keep winning. Their manager, Billy Beane, is working some kind of statistical magic. What is his secret to success? As Lewis takes his readers on a strange journey into the world of armchair pitchers and amateur baseball theorists I couldn’t help but think of a Dungeons and Dragons meets sports enthusiast group of geeks. This is truly a book with a dual audience. Moneyball, for obvious reasons, appeals to the sports fanatic, but the nerd with a mathematical slant can geek out as well. To win one must understand sabermetrics.

Author fact: Speaking of geeking out. I had a moment when I found out Lewis is married to Tabitha Soren.

Book trivia: Moneyball was made into a movie in 2011 starring Brad Pitt. You guessed it. I haven’t seen it.

Nancy said: Pearl said Moneyball turned her into an Oakland A’s fan.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Dewey Deconstructed: 700s” (p 71).

Zero

gr4c5Leave a comment

Seife, Charles. Zero: the Biography of a Dangerous Idea. New York: Viking, 2000.

Reason read: another choice relating to New Year’s resolution. Everyone wants to reset the clock. Zero symbolizes just that.

No other number can do so much damage, so says Charles Seife. He tells you this as he is explaining the Golden Ratio, how Winston Churchill is equal to a vegetable, and how you can make your very own wormhole. Mathematics, religion, philosophy, art, engineering, history: they all connect to zero. Mathematics is a more obvious element, but take religion: Shiva, one of the three gods in the Hindu triumvirate, represents nothing because Shiva’s role is to destroy the universe in order to perpetually recreate it. Seife goes deep to illustrate the importance of the zero and how, historically, it created as well as calmed chaos. Zero is historical and humorous, informative and even a little emotional.

Lines I liked, “To add insult to injury, the ultimate Pythagorean symbol of beauty and rationality, was an irrational number” (p 37) and “But the sand reckoner was destined to meet his fate while reckoning the sand” (p 52).

As an aside, does everyone know the music of Josh Ritter? I couldn’t help but think of his song, Lark, when reading Zero because he mentions “Golden ratio, the shell.”

Author fact: Seife has an M.S. in Mathematics from Yale University. Are you surprised?

Book trivia: Zero is the only book I know that starts with the chapter 0 instead of a preface or introduction.

Nancy said: Pearl lures you in and makes you curious about Zero when she says, “[Seife] offers a mathematical proof that Winston Churchill is equal to a carrot” (p 256). Okay, you got me.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Zero: This Will Mean Nothing To You” (p 256).