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"C" <cmiller5277@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1167519566.035640.307830@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hello all,
>
> I'm going to be studying abroad next semester in Budapest,
> Hungary, and thinking ahead for the 10+ hour plane ride I'm going to
> have (along with loads of downtime the first week or so), I was
> wondering if anyone could suggest an interesting math or physics book I
> could read during that time. I'm not looking for any kind of textbook
> or anything here, but still something intelligent that I can pick up at
> a Barnes & Noble or Borders or something along those lines. I've seen
> the book "Not Even Wrong" by Peter Woit a couple of places, has anyone
> been fortunate enough to read that yet?
I highly recommend "A Mathematician's Apology":
http://www.amazon.com/Mathematicians-Apology-Canto-G-Hardy/dp/0521427061/sr=8-1/qid=1167520399/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5757940-7791229?ie=UTF8&s=books
by Hardy.
It is a fascinating book ... it gives an insight into the way a serious
number theorist thinks. There is no real math in it. It is short (just
about right for a long plane ride, I think).
It has been years since I read it, but it was great. It tells how Hardy
originally came to meet Ramanujan,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1729_">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1729_(number)
I probably have remembered it wrong, but my recollection is that Hardy spent
one day a month reviewing all the odd mail he got. He had a large envelope
from a guy in India who was doing something menial for a living (Ramanujan)
but who had a lot of very insightful conjectures about integers. After
reading the material, which some would have not taken the time to try to
understand, Hardy decided he HAD to have Ramanujan as a graduate student.
The book is fascinating. It is every bit as amazing as reading, say, the
writings of a serial killer. Hardy viewed the world a lot more plainly than
most others. There are quotes in it like (and I'm probably getting this one
wrong), "The vast majority of people are good at precisely nothing, so it
matters little to society what career they choose". (Probably true, but not
the thing you'd want a high-school guidance counselor to say.)
Dave.
P.S.--Also, although not math-related:
www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Speaks-Being-Oglala/dp/0803283857/sr=8-1/qid=1167521067/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5757940-7791229?ie=UTF8&s=books">http://www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Speaks-Being-Oglala/dp/0803283857/sr=8-1/qid=1167521067/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5757940-7791229?ie=UTF8&s=books
I remember from the book (15 or more years ago now), that Black Elk or
someone he knew was present at the Battle of the Little Big Horn
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn
where Custer met his end. The stories from the other side of the fence are
... amazing.
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