A Wandering Veritgo

As the room moves when I do, my brain is left behind.  I know I want to write something thoughtful and meaningful, but those words are out dancing.

Sitting here in my husband’s new office, I am surrounded by his books.  They are for the most part lined up in a topical way.  But this row?

God Created the Integers

The Mathematical Experience

Journey through Genius

Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions

Moby Dick

Photons & Atoms

The Twelve Caesars

Voyage to the Heart of Matter

Twelve Best Games of Chess

Acoustic Rock Guitar Bible

A View of the Universe

Paradigms Lost

Poems of Emily Dickinson

Sciencia

How Math Expands the World

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

The Persian Experiment

The Quantum Story

Danger of the Dragons

Killing Patton

Complex Variables

German (Language) Made Simple

As a post requiring thought, this one is simply looking in the mind and at the book shelves of my beloved. What have you learned about math?

Good book, indifferent book, or just plain bad book?

sourc: great-creative-bookshelf-designs

When Elephant’s Child wrote about her struggle with purging her bookshelves, overflowing with so many books, thoughts began as my own book purge began.  What determines a good book from an indifferent book?  How do I began?

Perhaps this guidelines will help:

A book is declared good when it moves from being a bathroom reading book to a book-by-the-recliner, in one flush.

A book from a garage sale box marked 25¢? It may look great, but it has never been read, with only the first five pages turned.  One will buy it, but it will eventually end up it one’s own 25¢ box.

When the reader resumes at page 147 and a few hours later, moves the bookmark to page 245: This reader wants to find out what happens next.

When a book works its way from the “high interest” shelf and works its way down to the bottom shelf where there is a stack of Kohl’s ads and some two year old magazines, the book did not pass muster.

And

When the book one is thinking of buying at the used book store, one notices pages are folded down in the upper corner many times by different people.  And, also, there are notes made in margins.

It is hoped that these observations are helpful.