Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math - Book Review

If you were to have known before you started this book, that it was written by a genius, who was also a top-flight writer and mathematical theoretician -- albeit with a playful bent -- you probably would have left it right where it was, but still you would have had a playful mathematical "theoretician" doing the research.

Bellos does go over the great Euclidian discoveries and the math theory behind them. It makes sense that if you are going to pun on the name of the master, that you look at his work. Yes, this homage to the Greek mathematician makes it seem as if this will be one of those books you skim and leave on the coffee table to show that you are an intellectual. If that is as far as you get, then you are doing yourself and mathematics a great injustice.

There's far more to Bellos' mathematical journey, not only across mathematical space, than the title would indicate. It is a journey around the globe, following Bellos' journey, that takes you to some surprising places. Bellos can pull this off because he is a snappy writer with a surprising command of the language. Because of these abilities, he pulls you into math, using some real gems that include:

His theory that ants actually count the number of steps in trips to and from their colonies, an interesting construct that anthropromorphizes insects, giving them human-like qualities to them. How else can you explain ant behavior?

His side trip to the Amazon where he meets the only native tribe that uses a base-5 number and counting system because they can only understand numbers up to 5, yet their numbering system works at a highly sophisticated level. They use it to get as any being done anywhere else, which is quite a start to a person schooled in two theories (rote learning with the table cards and "the new math" and "set theory.")

His jump to the zen master of the theoretical math involved in oregami is priceless, as is his proof -- in a way -- that chaos theory is just about chaos and nothing more as he shows that in a chaotic system it is nearly impossible to introduce true randomness into iPod music list building. He theorizes, one cannot get to the absolute randomness as there are too many other distractions in the search for randomness, including the fact that many people like the same musical groups and will inevitably include their music on other music lists.

Bellos' book is so surprising that is also based on our prejudices about math. Just one example reinforces our prejudices. Of course, the teachings of the Buddha are surprising, quickly turning around our prejudices. This lasts until we meet the two New York "mathheads," who would rather build a supercomputer to use to write and argue about their "pi" mania, at a huge number of teraflops per second, rather than put their considerable talents to work on other, more important work.

Yes, Bellos' work is truly dense and takes an understanding -- and rereading of parts -- to make it all understandable, but Bellos, if you stick with him, is a witty, accurate writer who gets his educational point across. That, in itself, makes this a master work.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Book

"No Longer Silent" by Tammy Gagnon Is An Amazing Story of Self-Discovery and Triumph

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

When I began reading No Longer Silent by Tammy Gagnon, I had no idea I'd be taken on such an intense journey through another's life. Albeit a bumpy and often uncomfortable ride, it was one I wanted to finish.

Ms. Gagnon writes as if she's right there talking to you, at a simple table, over coffee, without pretense or anything counterfeit. She's not trying to impress you or sell you anything; she sugarcoats nothing. With utter transparency and candidness, she walks you through a childhood and young adult life packed full of events so nightmarish, one might think it was all invented for a movie or a novel storyline. As I read, I almost felt like I was watching a film reel clattering by, complete with sound and sometimes even smell as her life whirled before me. And some of it, frankly, is not easy to read.

But it's not a horror story, nor is it a plea for pity. It's a narrative about people and the lives we live and the lives we touch. As with all of human behavior--what people do and how they treat each other--there is good and there is evil; there are noble intentions and there are wicked. There are Good Samaritans and there are those who victimize. We live in a world where people make choices based a lot of things, some at surface level, and some at levels so deep it can take years of digging and peeling layers to get to the root of it. Truly, the psychology of this story is gripping.

But the details of what happened to Tammy are merely ingredients in a much bigger picture. What her story is really about is self-discovery. It's also about hope and forgiveness and the freedom they bring. And this is what makes it worth trudging through some of the muck and mire events of her life. Yes, she was a victim, and yes that, in turn, had negative effects on certain people in her life. But absolute honesty with herself, a desire to love her family and to seek God, and a firm conviction to make right what wrongs she could, pulled her through.

If you're like me, you'll not be able to relate to a lot of her story, but you'll be glad she told it to you. In fact, I wish I'd read this in years prior. It would have given me a whole different perspective, not to mention empathy, for people I have seen over the years acting out in certain ways.

Read No Longer Silent, take this voyage. There are some dark and turbulent waters. But there is a port waiting on the other side refreshingly filled with faith, hope, and recovery.

Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, trainer and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.

Visit http://www.libatique.com/ or Contact Kelly at: Kelly.Libatique@gmail.com

The Imperial Cruise By James Bradley

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

World War II holds a certain interest for me. I have to wonder if it is because I would be speaking a completely different language and my country would be a little red blip on the world map if events had turned out otherwise. Anyway whatever the reason I do read the occasional book on that era. This book is about the previous 100 years and the reasons why Japan bombed Pearl Harbour on that fateful morning of December 7th, 1941. Now after saying that you won't necessarily like the answers that this book holds.

Bradley is also the author of Flags of Our Fathers - the book about his father's role in raising the flag at Iwo Jima and how no one knew about his level of his involvement until after he had died. The humility of that generation coined the Greatest by Tom Brokaw is exemplified by his behaviour in the Pacific. Bradley probably was intrigued by the attack of the Japanese as that changed his family's history dramatically. He researches the presidencies of McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt and also the involvement of Taft and his work with Roosevelt out in Asia specifically with this subject in mind.

Just about everything I knew about Teddy Roosevelt was a fallacy. As a heads-up, this book was incredibly hard to read with respect to the way that many people were treated. Roosevelt wanted the world to view him in a certain way and never was photographed in some situations and always in others. He was the original media and public relations junkie. He often would have one conversation with a world leader but then relay a completely different notion to the American press.

In the summer of 1905 Roosevelt sent then Secretary of War William Howard Taft and his oldest daughter, Alice on a diplomatic mission across the Pacific. Alice was hugely popular as she lived a relatively wild life and the press and people of the US loved her. Alice was to keep the reporters and photographers busy while Taft met secretly with several leaders. Civilizing the Asian people was the idea of the trip for Roosevelt. These meetings would set up the groundwork for America's Pacific engagement but would come back to bite the people of the US less than 40 years later.

Bradley never gives his opinion throughout the book which is admirable. He just writes how history went down and who met with whom and why America was so interested in Asia and the Pacific. Personally I found the chapter on the opium wars very interesting with Queen Victoria being the most notorious 'dealer' along with some pretty heavy hitting names from American history. Worth your time especially if you are at all interested in world politics.

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/