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Re: Interesting Math Books?

Subject: Re: Interesting Math Books?
From: "David T. Ashley"
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 22:28:25 -0500
Newsgroups: sci.math
"Stephen Montgomery-Smith" <stephen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message 
news:bHFlh.288196$FQ1.188658@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> 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.)
>
> I read this book years ago.  I really ended up deciding that while Hardy 
> was a great mathematician, he had a really lousy philosophy of life.

That is why I mentioned it in the same context as the writings of a serial 
killer.

Everything he said was understandable (i.e. his cognitive processes were 
very intact), but he was clearly a different kind of creature than anyone I 
know. 



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