A place for the discussion of all things not closely related to the sport and its competitive side. (Locked down several times a year during the major championships)
Ludlum died in 2001. I chanced on his last book, entitled "The Sigma Protocol" c 2001 in the Eugene airport. Not exactly recent but I have about a dozen Ludlums and this one had slipped by. I dont know if any have been realeased since his death
I guess I should have put a smiley on my statement.
Ludlum died in 2001. I chanced on his last book, entitled "The Sigma Protocol" c 2001 in the Eugene airport. Not exactly recent but I have about a dozen Ludlums and this one had slipped by. I dont know if any have been realeased since his death
I guess I should have put a smiley on my statement.
I went to Google. Actually there have been several "Ludlum" books released since his death, authorized by his estate and authored/edited by selected authors.
Just finished Salt, A World History, by Mark Kurlansky.
A history of man's production of salt, which on the surface sounds dreadfully boring, I know, but it actually opens up a whole side of our back story (with interesting sidebars on gastronomy) that I hadn't realized.
I had no idea of the way wars have raged and empires have risen and fallen with salt as a major underpinning.
Remember the old dictum (Napoleon) of "an army travels on its stomach"? Living off the land rarely a complete option, so for thousands of years armies had to have preserved food and the only preservative known, basically, was salt. So if you didn't have a large and ongoing salt supply (and some countries, surprisingly enough, do not), then you can't keep a large army in the field.
And then there's the invention of gunpowder, which requires salt... you get the picture. (as did the Confederacy, too late)
At any rate, for anybody with an eye for history this should be a terrific read.
Recently finished "Hard Road West" (2008) by Keith Heyer Meldahl, which I thought was really excellent. It's a seamless interweaving of two powerful stories: the ordeal of the travelers on the Oregon & California trails of the 1830s-60s, and a geologist's interpretation of the land through which they passed.
National Geographic, January 1918 issue devoted to the airwar in France.
The French were anxiously awaiting the arrival of "America's Air Fleet."
Subscription to NG was $2.00/year, which puts my (very) late father-in-law's wedding gift to his bride in 1916 of a $50 lifetime subscription, which she enjoyed for seventy years before willing the complete collection to me, in perspective.
Also, you could buy a new Dodge sedan for $1350 or roadster for $885, f.o.b. Detroit. NG subscription is now $34/year. At same percentage increase the sedan would now be $22,950 and the roadster $15,045.
I don't know if that is gooder or badder. Anybody bought any Dogge roadsters lately?
gh wrote:Just finished Salt, A World History, by Mark Kurlansky.
A history of man's production of salt, which on the surface sounds dreadfully boring, I know, but it actually opens up a whole side of our back story (with interesting sidebars on gastronomy) that I hadn't realized.
I had no idea of the way wars have raged and empires have risen and fallen with salt as a major underpinning.
Remember the old dictum (Napoleon) of "an army travels on its stomach"? Living off the land rarely a complete option, so for thousands of years armies had to have preserved food and the only preservative known, basically, was salt. So if you didn't have a large and ongoing salt supply (and some countries, surprisingly enough, do not), then you can't keep a large army in the field.
And then there's the invention of gunpowder, which requires salt... you get the picture. (as did the Confederacy, too late)
At any rate, for anybody with an eye for history this should be a terrific read.
26mi235 wrote:A Distant Mirror, Tuchman (history of the 14th century)
Men of Mathematics, E>T>Bell
Einstein: his life and universe - by Walter Isaacson [just beginning]
Alpha Girls, Dan Kindlon [just beginning]
If you like Bell's book, here are some suggestions.
2 bios of Paul Erdos : My Brain is Open by Bruce Schechter and The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman.
Hilbert by Constance Reid. She has written other math bios but I think this one is the best.
26mi235 wrote:A Distant Mirror, Tuchman (history of the 14th century)
Men of Mathematics, E>T>Bell
Einstein: his life and universe - by Walter Isaacson [just beginning]
Alpha Girls, Dan Kindlon [just beginning]
If you like Bell's book, here are some suggestions. 2 bios of Paul Erdos : My Brain is Open by Bruce Schechter and The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman.
Hilbert by Constance Reid. She has written other math bios but I think this one is the best.
Yes, the Hoffman book on Erdos is a fine read. Erdos, was quite a character. His letters usually started with no greeting, just 'Let f(x) be a function...'
Also if you liked Hilbert, her companion piece Courant is a good read.
There is a metric space that was invented by Hilbert and it is called a Hilbert Space. The undergrad math center at U of Oregon has a picture of Hilbert on the wall and is called Hilbert Space.
jules wrote:There is a metric space that was invented by Hilbert and it is called a Hilbert Space. The undergrad math center at U of Oregon has a picture of Hilbert on the wall and is called Hilbert Space.
The Bible, Warren Wiersbe's The Bible Exposition Commentary, and Moody Classic's The Apostolic Fathers. Getting ready to read Lutzer's One Minute After You Die.
I just finished the last Harry Potter book. 2 years ago I heard some teens talking about it on Bart. I harbored a misconception for 2 years.
Now I am reading Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado.
I only decided Harry Potter might be worth reading after sharing a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt a few years ago and the guy next to me was a 40-something computer nerd and he was reading it in the German version, so I decided it muust have some redeeming value.
Most certainly did. Have read them all twice now except the last, which I'll do before the movie comes out. (make that movies, plural; last book is going to be made into a pair of flicks, apparently)
Last I read was "The Secret Speech" by Tom Rob Smith. It is a follow on to his first novel "Child 44". The protagonist is a MVD (then KGB) officer who got involved in solving murders (in the workers paradise, can't happen). Smith is a Brit, the books are pretty good. My next will be Joseph Kanon's new one, "Stardust". It takes place in Hollywood in the late 40s, early 50s during the the HUAC witch hunts. His 1st two were his strongest, IMO, Los Alamos & The Good German. The Prodigal Spy was okay, Alibi weak. Last chance Joe.
Oh, just remembered, one of Mary's tutees loaned her the new Dan Brown opus, "The Lost Symbol". I will probably read it, but I know how it will play out. The least likely suspect will turn out to be Dr Evil.
26mi235 wrote:A Distant Mirror, Tuchman (history of the 14th century)
Men of Mathematics, E>T>Bell
Einstein: his life and universe - by Walter Isaacson [just beginning]
Alpha Girls, Dan Kindlon [just beginning]
If you like Bell's book, here are some suggestions. 2 bios of Paul Erdos : My Brain is Open by Bruce Schechter and The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman.
Hilbert by Constance Reid. She has written other math bios but I think this one is the best.
Yes, the Hoffman book on Erdos is a fine read. Erdos, was quite a character. His letters usually started with no greeting, just 'Let f(x) be a function...'
Also if you liked Hilbert, her companion piece Courant is a good read.
I have (and read) the Erdos book by Hoffman -- while we are on that topic, I think my number is 3, but it might be 4; I will have to talk with my wife, whose number is one better. [A friend/colleague's husband did the first 'real' proof (one that could be really verified) of the four color problem - he needed it as lemma for another result and did not trust the overly-long computer proof.]
The pun by gh was very good; maybe I will search out that Hilbert book.
gh wrote:I only decided Harry Potter might be worth reading after sharing a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt a few years ago and the guy next to me was a 40-something computer nerd and he was reading it in the German version, so I decided it muust have some redeeming value.
Most certainly did. Have read them all twice now except the last, which I'll do before the movie comes out. (make that movies, plural; last book is going to be made into a pair of flicks, apparently)
I only read the Harry Potter books because of GH. Before talking to him I thought they were kids' books.
