Book review: Significant figures by Ian Stewart

Significant Figures: The Lives and Works of Great Mathematicians does what it attempts to do about as well as it could. Whether that is "good enough" depends on what you want.

Stewart's goal here was to briefly cover what the subtitle says about a range of mathematicians from various eras. He does not include anyone who is still alive and does not claim to cover the greatest mathematicians - this precludes a lot of arguments about who is included and not. He ranges from Archimedes to William Thurston. 

In each short chapter, Stewart summarizes what is known about the life of the person and tries to give a sense of the contribution that he or she made to mathematics.  The problem, especially in some of the later chapters, is that understanding the contributions requires a lot of background math. Stewart is writing for a lay audience - people who may have taken some math in college, but not professional mathematicians  He has a lot of experience doing this and he is reasonably successful, but if you are expecting a lot of deep mathematical results, you may be disappointed.

What are you reading? May 26, 2018

• Started this week
• Earthman's Burden by Gordon Dickson and Poul Anderson. An old science fiction book about how humans discover the Hoka, perhaps the funniest aliens ever. I am on p. 75.
• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. More SF. I am on p. 9
• In progress this week
• Significant Figures by Ian Stewart. Brief biographies of famous mathematicians. I am on p. 186.
• The Machiavellian Moment by J. G. A. Pocock. I am on p. 14. Multidisciplinary social science/history.  This is going to be a slow read. 
• This Idea is Brilliant edited by John Brockman.  Short essays on a wide range of ideas by experts. I am on p. 129.
• A New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny. This is a very good history of the subject, well written and clear.  Kenny follows an unusual strategy in that he takes two approaches: He first covers each era in a more-or-less chronological order, then he looks at the big topics of that era in a systematic way.  I am on p. 615, in the Enlightenment.
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• On hold this week (books started but put aside, without prejudice)
•  Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. Why the Enlightenment is still important, why life is still good.  I am on p. 55. 
• Death in Brittany by Jörg Bong.  A mystery. I am on p. 25. 
• The Drawing of Trump and its Postponement by Fred L. Karpin.  I am on p. 53. A classic on the play of the hand in bridge. 
• Finished this week
• The Last Queen of England by Steve Robinson. A mystery. My review.

Book review: The Last Queen of England by Steve Robinson

Queen Anne (b. 1665, d. 1714) was the "Last Queen of England" because the act of union occurred in her reign.  She was pregnant many times, but none of her children survived.  Or did they?

Genealogist Jefferson Tayte is at a conference in England when his friend and colleague dies in his arms. Tayte and Prof. Jean Summer take on the job that his colleague was working on, which involves the long-ago execution of five members of the Royal Society and a possible heir to the throne via Anne's line of descent.

Soon, though, it also involves murder in the present day, motivated by both politics and greed.

This is the third book in the Jefferson Tayte series,  but I don't think you need to read the others first.

Interesting words: Distaff

Distaff is an interesting word because it is both a noun and an adjective, but the two are, at first glance, rather unrelated.

The noun is part of the technology of spinning cloth - it is a staff for holding material.  The adjective means "pertaining to women".

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, distaff is from Low German diesse meaning flax and staef meaning stick or staff. The adjectival form is through the word spindle.  In Old English, there were words spinelhealf and sperehealf meaning the female and male lines of descent, respectively.

Distaff is a fairly rare word, about 1 in every 5,500,000 words, per Google ngram viewer. It is also declining in popularity.

What are you reading: May 19, 2018

Here's what I am reading.  Feel free to comment with what you are reading.

• Started this week
• The Last Queen of England by Steve Robinson. A mystery. I am on p. 58.
• In progress this week
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg. I am on p. 24.  
• Significant Figures by Ian Stewart. Brief biographies of famous mathematicians. I am on p. 158.
• The Machiavellian Moment by J. G. A. Pocock. I am on p. 12. Multidisciplinary social science/history.  This is going to be a slow read. 
• This Idea is Brilliant edited by John Brockman.  Short essays on a wide range of ideas by experts. I am on p. 129.
• A New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny. This is a very good history of the subject, well written and clear.  Kenny follows an unusual strategy in that he takes two approaches: He first covers each era in a more-or-less chronological order, then he looks at the big topics of that era in a systematic way.  I am on p. 613, in the Enlightenment.
• The Drawing of Trump and its Postponement by Fred L. Karpin.  I am on p. 53. A classic on the play of the hand in bridge. 
• On hold this week (books started but put aside, without prejudice)
•  Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. Why the Enlightenment is still important, why life is still good.  I am on p. 55. 
• Death in Brittany by Jörg Bong.  A mystery. I am on p. 25.
• Finished this week
• Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. My review.

Book Review: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper

• How do dictionaries get written?
• What is it like to be a lexicographer at a major dictionary?
• What word took Kory Stamper the longest to define?
• What word brought her death threats?
• Should dictionaries be descriptive or prescriptive?
• Why don't dictionaries use the international phonetic alphabet?

If these sort of questions interest you, then Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries is your sort of book. Kory Stamper writes well, with humor mixed in with the description of working at a dictionary. I found it fascinating.

What are you reading: May 12, 2018

Here's what I am reading.  Feel free to comment with what you are reading.

• Started this week
• Death in Brittany by Jörg Bong.  A mystery. I am on p. 25.
• Word by Word: The Hidden Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. I am on p. 77.
• In progress this week
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg. I am on p. 24.  
• Significant Figures by Ian Stewart. Brief biographies of famous mathematicians. I am on p. 89.
• The Machiavellian Moment by J. G. A. Pocock. I am on p. 9. Multidisciplinary social science/history.  This is going to be a slow read. 
• This Idea is Brilliant edited by John Brockman.  Short essays on a wide range of ideas by experts. I am on p. 127.
• A New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny. This is a very good history of the subject, well written and clear.  Kenny follows an unusual strategy in that he takes two approaches: He first covers each era in a more-or-less chronological order, then he looks at the big topics of that era in a systematic way.  I am on p. 605, in the Enlightenment.
• The Drawing of Trump and its Postponement by Fred L. Karpin.  I am on p. 53. A classic on the play of the hand in bridge. 
• On hold this week (books started but put aside, without prejudice)
•  Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. Why the Enlightenment is still important, why life is still good.  I am on p. 55.
• Finished this week

• Scrivener for Dummies.  Scrivener is a tool for writers.