bunrab | Recent reading

The Thread, A Mathematical Yarn by Philip J. Davis. This is very funny if you like tracking down words - and despite its title, it is more about words than it is about math. Specifically, it is the author's rather eccentric search for the origins of the name Pafnuty, as in the first name of the mathematician Pafnuty Tschebyscheff. I would put it right up there with Rats, Lice and History for eccentric science reading, except that The Thread is much shorter and easier to read.

The next batch of reading will be odder; I have two BookCrossing bookrings to read and pass on, and reading Brokeback Mountain and Tales from Sanctuary, The Vampire Sex Bar together should provide for an interesting couple of days.

And then, after that, while reading Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (see about three posts back), I was struck with the idea that I should really read Thackeray's Vanity Fair and The Newcomes so I will be hunting those down during my next trip to the library.