Almost driver

                                                                                  True?
                         

 Billy Graham was returning to Charlotte after a speaking engagement and when his plane arrived there was a limousine there to transport him to his home. As he prepared to get into the limo, he stopped and spoke to the driver.

'You know' he said, 'I am 87 years old and I have never driven a limousine. Would you mind if I drove it for a while?'

The driver said, 'No problem. Have at it.'

Billy gets into the driver's seat and they head off down the highway. A short distance away sat a rookie State Trooper operating his first speed trap.

The long black limo went by him doing 70 in a 55 mph zone.

The trooper pulled out and easily caught the limo then got out of his patrol car to begin the procedure. The young trooper walked up to the driver's door and when the glass was rolled down, he was surprised to see who was driving.

He immediately excused himself and went back to his car and called his supervisor. 'I know we are supposed to enforce the law.... but I also know that important people are given certain courtesies. I need to know what I should do because I have stopped a very important person.'

        The supervisor asked, 'Is it the governor?'

The young trooper said, 'No, he's more important than that.'

        The supervisor said, 'Oh, so it's the president.'

The young trooper said, 'No, he's even more Important than that.'

        After a moment,the supervisor finally asked, 'Well then, who is it?'

The young trooper said, 'I think it's Jesus, because he's got Billy Graham for a chauffeur!'
Can you imagine? 
 Again, my hand is week-in to  a lengthy stretch of healing. Please leave a comment! I would appreciate seeing your name. Thanks.

The Big and the Small of it All

 

Gulliver's Travels original title

The 18th century was one of massive changes worldwide, where borders were moved, countries established, and discoveries in sciences abounded. In that period, social boundaries, particularly in England, also became strongly established, dividing rich from poor and poorer.
  
During such upheaval, Rev. Jonathan Swift wrote and published Gulliver's Travels, which satires existing societies, laws, royalty, parliaments, churches, and just about anything else in England.  Gulliver's Travels stirred up great outcry when it was published in England in 1726, of course, by guilty members of the governing body.

Gulliver's Travels is long, with several sections, and requires a strong attention span to retain Swift's views. His view of society effectively slashes and burns, being a master of satire, to the point where he had to write under pseudonyms.

Rev. Swift excelled at writing cleverly painted parallels, pairing Lilliput with England, each mirroring the other. His skill is comparable to that of putting a pin through two termites on an entomology display board and examining them with a magnifying glass. 

Part one is the only one with which I was familiar.  Gulliver is a normal sized Englishman, but appears to be a giant, having been washed up on the island of Lilliput, where Lilliputians are six inches high. This arrival disrupts the nation in so many ways.
  

18th century print

Gulliver is amused the Emperor and his court, amazed and amused. How members of the court chosen was a source of delight for Gulliver.

One way is to watch "rope dancers" compete by jumping on silk threads. The one who jumps the highest wins, which granting him a high position of solving problems for the Emperor. 

Another is in appointing a treasurer by requiring  competitors to juggle items. Winner is one who can keep the most items juggling in the air, without any falling.

YouTube with Ted Danson

Rules and laws of Lilliput are long, its disputes longer.  But perhaps most interesting of all is a war between Lilliput and Blefuscu, which readers accurately interpreted as the King of England and King of France. One is the "big-endians" and the other "small-endians". 

The Big. E. believe that one should eat a soft-boiled egg from the big end.  The Small E. believe that one should eat the egg from the small end. 

This dispute is very serious and long lived. Thousands of people of both islands had been killed in these wars. This senseless slaughter over eggs is also a veiled comparison to Catholics to Protestants.

This book examines society down to its minutia and is written by a brilliant man. How was it received? By the Governing body or by the common man? Oh boy howdy, it created an uproar in both for different reasons, but no retributions could be made.

Sometimes I wonder what was happening in 2014 when I first wrote this. History is presented in many ways. Rev. Swift was a keen observer of the 18th century (American Revolution time, US government system, freedom of speech...)  He had to use a pseudonym much of the time.

I wonder how this would go now?

metaphor

A Journey through Numbers

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 bookshelves of my beloved. What have you learned about math?

Forget that! What have you learned about the titles of the books and the authors? Did you recognize any title and authors?

When we moved from old place to new place, we had to cull through John's massive collection. Fortunately his collection of books on Chemistry are a little slim.

This is a repost from 2017. My husband's library is still a royal mess.