What are you currently reading?

[Garlichead]

Alternating between Joseph Campbell a Hero with a Thousand Faces and a re read of Demian by Herman Hesse.

[aloysiusfreeman]

  On 7/31/2023 at 10:15 AM, Kyka said:

 

I have read a number of China Mieville. Wonderful Author. My person favorite is "The Scar", though "Perdido St. Station" is another favorite. I don't remember if I have read "The City & The City." I feel I have, though a long time ago.

 

Expand  

 

Nice, I've heard a lot of great things on Perdido St. Station. This is my first time reading his fiction, the other being October.

[ducon]

Finished:

Which Bernoulli? They are eight. The first one, Jacques but the other seven are not forgotten, especially his brother Jean and his nephew Nicolas.

He worked on probabilities (repeated or not head or tails, expected value…), calculus (differential…), kinematics…

Few families brought more than one mathematician, here they reigned during nearly a century and a half (from mid-XVIIth to late XVIIIth in Switzerland), for example the three Banu Musa brothers in Arabia (VIIIth century), the three fathers and sons Lobatchvski (XVIIIth in Kazakhstan), Cartan and Lions (XXth in France).

 

Then:

 

That I finished.

About Cantor, the creator of set theory, with its strengths and flaws, and actual infinities (cardinals and ordinals).

 

Now:

That I also read.

This one is about the genius from India and how Hardy worked with him.

Too bad, there are a few errors (for example √2 is a solution of x²−1=0).

 

Beginning:

 

Finished:

A good complement to the other Tolkien books but there are no Beleriand nor Númenor maps.

 

Now:

 

Finished:

 

Ophélie climbs the steps in the Pôle’s high society but people are disappearing after having received black mails.

She will fall down and discover who is the master of puppets. But there might be more than one master.

 

Now:

Edited August 15, 2023 by ducon

[P_A_Z]

I've got to work.

 

[ducon]

I’d like to vomit vomit vomit. :D

[P_A_Z]

You're awesome. :-)

[DarnedEnd57]

In terms of ongoing series, ASOIF, HxH, Chainsaw Man, and JojoLands. Only 2 of the above have actually been added to in the last year.

 

I'm still collecting Akira volumes at the moment, as well as attempting to start reading Soul Eater.

[enigma101]

I'm also reading Strong Female Character by Fern Brady, but couldn't find a good enough image of the cover.

[ducon]

Read:

 

The short live of a revolutionary (in mathematics and in politics) who was aware of his genius, and thus often acted like a dick.

He proved that there are no formulas with radicals to solve polynomial equations whose degree is ⩾5 and to do this, he created the group theory.

 

Now:

Edited August 17, 2023 by ducon

[aloysiusfreeman]

  On 7/29/2023 at 9:08 PM, aloysiusfreeman said:

Currently reading: 

 

 

Expand  

I am a terribly slow reader nowadays but I'm halfway through this. Man I really enjoy this book. The blurb calls it a Philip K Dick and Raymond Chandler love child raised by Kafka and isn't that the damn truth

[Linuxmaster1992]

I've been reading two very different books, the sci-fi classic Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson, and The Urbanization of New Jersey by J. Bebout and R. Grele

[ducon]

Finished:

 

Wow, I forgot that this book was so easy to read and that it’s not in the exact same world than The lord of the rings.

 

Then:

Edited August 20, 2023 by ducon

[Biodegradable]

Finished both Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and Will Self's Why Read.

 

Now reading John Steinbeck's The Log from the Sea of Cortez.

[soss]

just got to Pig and Pepper in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the 150th anniversary edition)

[ducon]

I just finished:

I did not know that he was such a genius that might have found relativity before Einstein if he did not die so young.

He worked on calculus, arithmetic, electromagnetism, complex analysis…

 

Now:

 

That I read.

He had an idea, that others like Euler or D. Bernoulli had before, but he developed it much more, fighting against academics. His posterity is huge.

During the French Revolution, he was on the right side but never against the people, that saved his life twice.

 

Then:

 

I was first surprised that he was in a series dedicated to mathematicians, but after having read this book, I know now that it’s OK.

He was gifted with his brain but also with his hands: he made himself his telescope.

As usual in this series, there is a fistful of spoiling errors.

 

Now:

 

That I read.

All the computers that we are using today (including quantic machines) were born in Turing’s brain (and others of course).

He also worked on biology+mathematics.

 

Now:

 

Finished:

 

Ophélie (using the pseudonym of Eulalie) is going to Babel, the arch of Pollux and Hélène, masters of knowledge in a pre-fascist society. But who is really Eulalie? Who is the Other that has been freed by Ophélie ? Where is her husband Thorn?

 

Now:

 

Finished too.

The last book of the series that explains why Thorn married Ophélie, and how the total mess ends.

 

Now:

 

Finished:

The first two books: the way to Imladris, then the Fellowship and its end.

I have read them a long time ago and it’s still a pleasure even if translation errors, edition errors and tiny maps are somewhat spoiling the reading.

 

Now:

Edited September 20, 2023 by ducon

[P_A_Z]

  On 8/22/2023 at 9:27 AM, ducon said:

Now:

Expand  

 

The Tool album called Lateralus was composed with the number sequence of Fibonacci, especially the eponym song "Lateralus". Maybe you know that.

 

The theme of the song describes the desire of humans to explore and to expand for more knowledge and a deeper understanding of everything. The lyrics "spiral out" refer to this desire and also to the Fibonacci spiral, which is formed by creating and arranging squares for each number in the sequence's 1,1,2,3,5,8,... pattern, and drawing a curve that connects to two corners of each square. This would, allowed to continue onwards, theoretically create a never-ending and infinitely expanding spiral. Related to this, the song's main theme features successive time signatures 9/8, 8/8, and 7/8. The number 987 is the sixteenth integer of the Fibonacci sequence.

 

In July 2017, Maynard's friend Joe Rogan described his writing process in his podcast; "He wrote a song to the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical sequence. It starts from one, the next number is one, and the next number being two, creates the 2+1 which is three, continuing in this mathematical progression. That's how they found the chord progression. It began linking up to the Fibonacci sequence." The syllables Maynard sings in the first verse follow the first six numbers in the pattern, ascending and descending in the sequence 1-1-2-3-5-8-5-3. "Black (1), then (1), white are (2), all I see (3), in my infancy (5). Red and yellow then came to be (8), reaching out to me (5). Lets me see (3)." In the next verse, Maynard begins with the seventh number of the Fibonacci sequence (13), implying a missing verse in between. He descends back down with the following pattern; 13-8-5-3. "As below so above and beyond I imagine (13). Drawn beyond the lines of reason (8). Push the envelope (5). Watch it bend (3)." The second verse adds the missing line to complete the sequence; "There is (2), so (1), much (1), more that (2), beckons me (3), to look through to these (5), infinite possibilities (8)." 1-1-2-3-5-8-5-3-2-1-1-2-3-5-8-13-8-5-3.

 

 

[Biodegradable]

  On 8/20/2023 at 3:12 PM, Biodegradable said:

Now reading John Steinbeck's The Log from the Sea of Cortez.

Expand  

 

Decided to put The Log aside for now, not because I don't find it interesting, but because this one was calling to me more.

 

[ducon]

  On 9/20/2023 at 8:06 PM, P_A_Z said:

The Tool album called Lateralus was composed with the number sequence of Fibonacci, especially the eponym song "Lateralus". Maybe you know that.

Expand  

No, I was not aware of it.

Thanks, I’ll dig in Tool’s discography. I only own the first one and maybe I should not have begun with it.

 

Finished:

 

I knew his series and that he wrote an exercises book but I did not know that he was so important: he also popularized Indian→Arabic 10-digit numeration in Europe and kicked in the ass European mathematics.

 

Next one is:

Edited September 21, 2023 by ducon

[Pokemanic33]

I read very slowly (on a pace of about one chapter a week at church to distract me from the fact that I'm at church) but I'm currently working my way through Catch-22.

 

I have mixed thoughts on it so far - it can be pretty funny and as cynical as its reputation suggests, but I seriously struggle with the writing style. It's a master class in setting a casual, stream-of-consciousness tone, but by the same token it makes it very hard to "get."

 

There's a similar thing with the plot - I'm only a few chapters in, but nothing particularly substantial has happened. Again, it's part of setting the tone and building characters, but when the story doesn't move anywhere it makes me feel like I'm missing something.

 

All this is to say I'm not as good a reader as I thought I was, and I may have to come back to it after I have more books under my belt.

[JonExMachina]

Currently reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian for a book club I have with a few friends, and finding it kinda hard to keep myself invested in anything that happens. Next in line is After Atlas by Emma Newman, which I'm very excited for.

[Merry Widow]

Crygender. Weird, but very good.

[aloysiusfreeman]

  On 7/29/2023 at 9:08 PM, aloysiusfreeman said:

Currently reading: 

 

 

Expand  

 

Just finished this. Greatly enjoyed it - I will definitely seek out more China Mieville books. It reminded me a lot of PKD, so naturally, I started this: 

 

 

Lately I've been having thoughts that remind me of PKD, and it terrifies me. 

[Garlichead]

Going through Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Got a nice edition from 1955 from the local library translated into spanish, gorgeous descriptions of the early 20th century India and quite a fun read.

 

 

[Daytime Waitress]

  On 9/26/2023 at 3:07 PM, aloysiusfreeman said:

Just finished this. Greatly enjoyed it - I will definitely seek out more China Mieville books.

 

Expand  

 

It's been a few years now, but I seem to remember Mieville's characters and dialogue being a pale shadow of his world-building. The city in The Scar genuinely felt alive, though, and it's a cracking adventure - be sure to check it out.

[Arrowhead]

Botany for Gardeners

[LoatharMDPhD]

// ... Between the Lines for once...

[ducon]

Read:

 

An excellent collection of articles about life in France and war in Ukraine.

 

Now:

That I read.

The first book of six from a deceased (from AIDS) friend of Stephen King, who also wrote Beetlejuice.

The flood brought the Caskey a new woman (and a child) in the family. But who is she actually?

 

Then:

 

Finished:

 

The second L maths genius (the other ones are Laplace and Legendre)… who is not French but Italian; he was also modest. Thanks to the book that explains Lagrange’s multipliers.

 

Now:

 

I know of course his last theorem but not that he nearly founded calculus, actually founded number theory and many more.

 

Next one is:

Edited October 11, 2023 by ducon

[OceanMadman]

 

I just finished it. I liked it.

[Downcologo one]

  Reveal hidden contents

.

 

"el juramento de los centenera" It's interesting, the only bad thing is that it's quite repetitive and sometimes the plot doesn't move forward.

[LadyMistDragon]

The Thousandfold Thought