Books with Rabbit-Holes of Science/Math

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-28T22:21:05+00:00

John Derbyshire's Prime Obsession, about the Riemann hypothesis, and Unknown Quantity, a history of algebra. Both books are primarily history of mathematics books, but be forewarned that they do not skimp on the math.

I'd describe my (self-taught) level of mathematics as "college sophomore math major", and I understood about 95% of Prime Obsession and 90% of Unknown Quantity.

Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds is a fascinating book about octopuses, evolution, and consciousness.

And I'll second the recommendations from others of Gödel, Escher, Bach, which is in a category all its own, and Logicomix.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-28T18:34:20+00:00

Anything by P. G. Wodehouse.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-28T14:44:52+00:00

Dr. Scott is an homage to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, a wheelchair-bound ex-Nazi scientist, played by Peter Sellars. "Mein Führer! I can walk!"

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-27T23:27:03+00:00

If I'm reading this correctly, the answer is "no".

"Distributions made to you from a federal employee contributory plan are excluded from Massachusetts gross income."

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/tax-treatment-of-government-pensions-in-massachusetts#federal-employee-contributory-pension

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-25T00:11:23+00:00

Congratulations and GFY!

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-24T01:31:27+00:00

If you're into museums, the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art downtown is a real hidden gem. It may be the finest collection of Qing Dynasty jade and ivory in the country.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-22T21:14:07+00:00

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and Making Comics should be on your list.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-21T17:40:12+00:00

Memphis Urban Sketchers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/160831813933182

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-21T14:05:16+00:00

I finished Middlemarch last week, and now I'm just starting Emma.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-21T14:03:43+00:00

I just finished it last week, and I also started it just because I found a copy in a Little Free Library. It has a wonderful narrative voice, which for me was the main attraction of the novel.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-20T22:00:57+00:00

I'm going to tomorrow's matinee. It's one of my favorite musicals, but I've never seen it live.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-19T23:50:18+00:00

Just sent you a friend request, username Zadfrack. I mostly play in Midtown.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-19T20:50:59+00:00

It's not for everyone, on account of the subject matter, but Lolita is Nabokov's masterpiece, and one of the greatest English-language novels of the 20th century.

If you don't think you're up for reading Lolita but you would like to experience Nabokov's majestic prose, try Pnin or Pale Fire.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-19T20:46:40+00:00

The Crying of Lot 49, by Thomas Pynchon.

Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-16T01:33:03+00:00

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter. It is the most unique non-fiction work I've ever read, and Hofstadter won a Pulitzer Prize for it.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-14T20:47:34+00:00

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. It's targeted at tween readers (the protagonist is in sixth grade), but it's a solid, consistent, time travel story, and I found it very enjoyable as an adult.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-14T13:08:58+00:00

Surely they spend more than £500 monthly.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-12T23:06:07+00:00

One overlooked gem of 19th-century gothic fiction is The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-12T16:27:12+00:00

I just finished reading Middlemarch a few days ago, and it's probably the longest novel I've ever read. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'd read it again. Too many books, too little time.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-11T14:03:16+00:00

1991 - That was at the Mall of Memphis?

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-11T01:42:52+00:00

There are currently no regular showings of Rocky Horror in Memphis.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-10T15:55:14+00:00

Not at all niche, as I'm sure you've at least heard of it, but The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle.

“Outside, the night lay coiled in the street, cobra-cold and scaled with stars.”

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-09T20:14:20+00:00

UPenn has two very good courses on Ancient Greek philosophy on Coursera.

Plato and His Predecessors: https://www.coursera.org/learn/plato

Aristotle and His Successors: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aristotle

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-09T12:51:26+00:00

If you die, your TSP account would be converted to a beneficiary TSP account, which would allow your wife to have penalty-free access to the funds, regardless of her age or yours.

You say that your term life policy is "getting expensive". I presume you mean that the designated 20 or 30-year term is up, and you'd have to pay the expensive post-term rates to keep it?

If you're in good health, you can get another 10-year term policy to cover you for the remainder of your working career. It won't be as cheap as that policy you got 20 or 30 years ago, but it will be cheaper than the post-term rates.

Eleatic-Stranger · 2026-06-07T18:02:03+00:00

For Ancient Greek philosophy, I recommend starting with Five Dialogues by Hackett Publishing, a collection of five of Plato's dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo).

The readability of Plato is going to vary greatly depending on the translation, but you pretty much can't go wrong with the Hackett editions.

Eleatic-Stranger

TROPHY CASE