On Jul 11, 4:06*am, Giles wrote:
On Jul 9, 1:00*pm, riverman wrote:





On Jul 9, 6:02*am, Giles wrote:

On Jul 8, 2:46*pm, riverman wrote:
You'd truly enjoy the opening chapter of "Beyond Numeracy' by John
Allen Paulos.

You're assuming I'd understand it. *That's flattering.....or
naive. * * * * *

I'm very certain that you'd understand it, and only slightly less
certain that you would enjoy it. He recounts his musings while driving
(along the NJ Tpk, I believe). It's a fascinating and entertaining
insight into how the mind wanders with a completely understandable
mathematical/logical bent. If you enjoy compendi of mathematical
oddities, puzzles, trivia, etc. then this is a satisfying read, The
rest of the book may or may not be to your liking, but the prequel;
"Innumeracy" is definitely readable by the layman and has gotten rave
reviews and awards from all sorts of quarters.

--riverman

"Innumeracy" rings a bell. *I may have a copy lying around
somewhere.....though I haven't read it. *Anyway, I looked it up and
found this:

http://www.innumeracy.com/

Hofstadter's "Metamagical Themas" rings a very loud bell. *One of my
favorite books. *Opened up a whole new world to me. *I've read it
three or four times......just about time for another reading*.

Meanwhile, I don't particularly enjoy mathematical works in
general.....not even those that cater especially to the mathematically
handicapped like myself. *I periodically subject myself to such
material out of an occasional vain hope that exposure (however
remedial) will some day result in enlightenment.....or at least a
sustained interest. *It never works.

giles
*others of hofstadter's works i've delved into, particularly "Gödel,
Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid", and "Le Ton beau de Marot: In
Praise of the Music of Language," are so opaque to me that they might
as well have been written in some encrypted obscure martian dialect.

Goedel, Escher, Bach generated such a cult following that I was unable
to give it a real fair trial. But I find that 'Pop Math' books bore
me, while rigorous mathematical texts blow me out of the water. I have
a very narrow range of readable mathematical books...almost entirely
limited to historical biographies that give a context to major
discoveries.

Let me know if you get into Innumeracy....and the opening chapter of
Beyond Numeracy. I'll take a gander at Metamagica Themas.

--riverman