Here's another attempt to bridge the gap between the ``two cultures'' of the humanities and the sciences, this time by a mathematician/mystery novelist. In his introductory ``Note to the Reader,'' Berlinski (Less Than Meets the Eye, 1994, etc.) emphasizes that his goal is to provide not a textbook but a ``tour,'' offering the reader the sort of ``Aha!'' insight characteristic of math. To that end, he brings his novelist's equipment to bear on the subject, with well-drawn character portraits of the men who developed calculus (Newton and Leibniz in particular) and dramatic scenes featuring the author as an instructor with a recalcitrant college math class. There are proofs (presented in appendixes to each chapter), but no problems to solve. And the focus of the text is on the meaning and application of the central concepts of the calculus, as in the use of the first derivative to determine the speed of a falling body after a given elapsed time—one of the purposes for which the technique was invented. A reader who remembers algebra can follow most of the proofs, and the history of mathematics is interestingly presented. But the book goes off track in several ways. Berlinski's portrayal of his college calculus class suggests contempt for those who ``don't get'' math; considering how many readers may picture themselves among the author's reluctant students, this is not an asset. Too many sentences force the reader to stop and puzzle out the plain sense of what the author is saying rather than the mathematical point he is trying to illustrate. Minor factual errors intrude: The author attributes Millay's line ``Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare'' to Keats, then makes a point of Keats's ignorance of math. Finally, the labels on the diagrams often don't correspond to the text they illustrate, a source of potential confusion. A worthy attempt to bring an important scientific concept to the general reader; too bad the execution falls short of the ambition.
Pub Date: Jan. 25, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-42645-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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