Summary: All kinds of random information you never needed to know, on a whole variety of subjects. And a surprising amount of random information about Canada.
Comments: This was fun to read. I came across a number of amusing facts. Apparently "E plurbis unum" was first used to describe salad dressing. Every page or pair of pages is a new topic, so this book is very much about breadth of knowledge, if knowledge is the right word for it. And every so often, the topic has something to do with Canada: famous Canadian entertainers, the history of the Mounties, etc. Rather amusing, I though.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
A Hog On Ice, by Charles Earle Funk
Summary: This book gives the origins and history of a variety of expressions (such as the one that appears in the title)
Comments: This was a good book for reading on airplanes and such because I could read the section on some phrase, look to see if something interesting was going on outside, and return to my book if not, without interrupting my train of thought. One thing I should say is that the book was originally published in 1948, so you have to keep that in mind when the author talks about certain phrases being recent or makes reference to the last ten years or anything like that. There was a certain number of phrases I had never heard, but I guess that kinda proves his point that the expressions in common usage change over the years, and the ones I'm familiar with aren't necessarily the same as the ones that were in usage 60 years ago.
Comments: This was a good book for reading on airplanes and such because I could read the section on some phrase, look to see if something interesting was going on outside, and return to my book if not, without interrupting my train of thought. One thing I should say is that the book was originally published in 1948, so you have to keep that in mind when the author talks about certain phrases being recent or makes reference to the last ten years or anything like that. There was a certain number of phrases I had never heard, but I guess that kinda proves his point that the expressions in common usage change over the years, and the ones I'm familiar with aren't necessarily the same as the ones that were in usage 60 years ago.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, by Ian Stewart
Summary: This book presents a variety of mathematical puzzles, as well as numerous math-related anecdotes.
Comments: Many of the anecdotes were amusing, and it was fun to try to wrap my head around the puzzles. The fact that it's nicely broken up into small chunks for the most part might have come in handy if I hadn't read most of while flying to and from Seattle and in other situations where length of time is best measured in hours.
Comments: Many of the anecdotes were amusing, and it was fun to try to wrap my head around the puzzles. The fact that it's nicely broken up into small chunks for the most part might have come in handy if I hadn't read most of while flying to and from Seattle and in other situations where length of time is best measured in hours.
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