Monday, July 17, 2006

Innumeracy



Format: Print
Author: John Allen Paulos

"A billion, a trillion, whatever." We say these things but do we really have a sense of magnitude for big and small numbers as well as the risk and probabilities associated with our daily lives. Paulos tries to give the reader a good number sense as well as an understanding of probability while explaining the effects and causes of "innumeracy." The book is pretty entertaining with some great examples.

Infinite Ascent


Format: Print
Author: David Berlinski

This was a great overview of Math History. This topic is lacking in my math education so this book was a great help. It is very poetically written and could be good for even non-math types all though some passages were a little difficult to wrap my head around. Point of interest: Cantor claims that there are different sized infinities, he calls the size of the natural numbers "Aleph null." Also, not only is Euclid the "Father of Geometry" he is the Father of Proof as well.

Star Wars: Shatterpoint



Format: Audiobook

Not all that great. Didn't hold my attention as well as the other Star Wars audio. Star Wars audio does an amazing job with sound, it isn't distracting but enhancing, this book was no exception to that rule. I learned that there are 7 jedi fighting styles and Mace Windu invented one, I guess this makes him pretty cool.