Euclid and Me

Numerologically, Peter = 28 (Perfect number). Also, Camille = 28. Coincidence? Yes. Also, 28 is a pretty likely outcome for any names of 5-7 characters. But I guess it still gave me a kind of thrill.

I didn't feel the same love for Euclid that Glenn did. I thought it was interesting and enjoyable to read, but I was bothered throughout by little things I felt like Bellos explained poorly, or just got wrong. This seemed to get worse the further into the book he got. There were several things in the chapter on probability that I think were at least misleading, if not incorrect. The section on countable and uncountable infinity was okay, but I think he missed the real meat of the concept, which has to do with being able to order sets. It's there, but he didn't really bring it out (I felt). Also, perhaps the 'c' and 'd' notation is standard in the UK, but in my measure theory class the cardinality of an uncountably infinite set (his 'c') was denoted aleph_1, and similarly his 'd' was aleph_2. Which makes more sense with the countable infinites being denoted aleph_0.

I thought he was strongest at narrative and characterization, rather than exposition (which may explain why he became a writer rather than a mathematician). His vignettes of intersting characters were always fun, and always fairly well put together. I also thought that his deciphering the historical clues around various base systems was great, and I liked his "stick this in your Frenchie cigarette holder and smoke it" defense of non-metric measurement systems.

He seemed to spend a lot of time investigating the intersection of math and mysticism. His bit about the Pathagorean secret society, and numerology, and all that. People who feel uncovering the 2 billionth digit of pi is be like touching the face of God. It was very foreign to me; numbers don't excite me in that way at all. They seem like useful tools, but I am seldom awed by numbers in and of themselves, even though (or perhaps because?) I work with them all day, every day. I don't find myself sharing in the sense of awe, even worshipfulness, that some people seem to feel toward numbers. But then, I find I lack that sense of profunditry for lots of things other people find awe-inspiring: astronomy, evolution, Alvin's physique.

I was a bit bummed the story ended with Cantor (who is a fascinating figure in the history of math). I would have liked a chapter on Gödel, who disproved David Hilbert's hypothesis by showing that no complete system can be self-consistent. It would have given the book a nice, conflicted ending to recognize that on an ultimate level math's logical foundations are grounded in their unprovability. In a way, it's the completion of Euclid's story, showing that while you can prove many wonderful results from a small set of axioms, those axioms are by the nature of the system unprovable and must simply be taken on faith.

Do we have a selection yet for the next book?

I Am Number Sixty-Six

And so is my wife's maiden name. "Density. I mean, destiny."
Our numbers don't quite add up the way Alvin and Tammy's do. I used the system of "professional numerologist" Jerome Carter, who used the pythagorean numerology chart.



Now, 66 isn't a master number (though both my wife's middle name and my own each add up to master numbers), but it is a pretty cool number. Another cool number "coincidence" is the fact that my first name has 5 letters in it (a prime number), my middle name has 6 letters in it (a perfect number), and my last name has 7 letters in it (also a prime number), making my name a numerical series! What is perhaps even cooler is that using the pythagorean numerology chart, GLENN adds up to 25, the square of the number of letters in the name, making it perhaps the awesomest name in existence (except perhaps Glennjamin). It's a good thing more people don't know about numerology, or everyone would be naming their kids Glenn (yes, I'm looking at you, Glenn Close).

Numerology aside, this book was sooooo much fun. It doesn't read like most other books which is great. It wasn't a book that can be rushed through, but one that must be savored, and enjoyed, like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
And it's hard to pick a favorite part. I could flip open to any page and find something interesting and enjoyable to read. It was fun sharing what I was learning with my wife and kids, though they sometimes gave me strange looks (except my 3-yea-old who just smiled at me as though she understood completely).

My least favorite parts would probably be number series and infinity. The number series, though perhaps not as much as numerology, often seemed as though people were "finding" patterns that weren't really there, like seeing George Washington's face in a Chicken Nugget. The series were often fairly abstract, which strained my brain, as does the concept of infinity. Infinitely more mind warping than infinity is the idea of an infinity bigger than infinity. When I read the Hilbert Hotel parable I tried arguing with the author, attempting to come up with arguments that would parry his attack on reality. I thought, "Well why doesn't he just make everyone move to the next room up, like he did before to make a vacancy for his invented number?" But though I can't quite say his logic was hermetically sealed, I did see his point. Still, as perfect as my name is, I'm not ready for the mental rigors of godhood.
My favorite parts of the book were the discussions on numbers in games, mental acrobats (like anzan participants), and base number systems. I thought the old british counting system was hilarious (tan-a-bumfit!?!), and the 12-base system was simply awesome.

The book rekindled my love of geometry, it's simplicity and beauty, and makes me want to get a compass and a copy of Euclid's The Elements, and introduce my kids to the greater wonders of math.

Taking refuge in Numberland's abstract beauty.

I was not surprised when my name's numerological sum wasn't the same as my wife's, but the difference between them is 7, which happens to be the number of people in our family. I take that as a sign from the gods.

I love series. My favorite quote from the chapter: “the land is dying, even the oceans are dying, but one can take refuge in the abstract beauty of sequences like Dion Gijswijt's A090822”.

This is the second PVS book in which Thorp's Beat the Market/Dealer have been referenced. I looked to see if I could check it out from the library: lots of copies of Beat the Dealer, but no copies of Beat the Market in Las Vegas--figures. It's nice to know to stick with the Kelly strategy when at the tables.

We spent a family night exploring the Pythagorean theory—glue and scissors, etc. Our 3-year old liked using scissors; our 9-year old got the concept but was underwhelmed. I still think it is magical.

I also liked the chapter on hyperbolic curves and Infinity. Since God is infinite, is he aleph or c or d? Does this fit into our theology?

I'm with you Alvin—this book reminded me how much I like math. I kind of gave up on math in college when we got into vector spaces and things I couldn't visualize, but thinking about it now, all math (or at least algebra) is an abstraction, right? Numbers are so much fun.

By the way, one of the chapters is titled "Life of Pi". I'm sure everyone's read it, but it is one of my favorite books.