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On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:58:15 GMT, Stephen Montgomery-Smith
<stephen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>David T. Ashley wrote:
>> "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":
>> [...]
>>
>> 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.
Well at least he apologized...
>Stephen
************************
David C. Ullrich
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