LAMuseMent

Probability with Martingales by David Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars There is a large gap between classical and modern (measure theoretic) probability theory in that the later seems so much harder. However, without measure theory probability theory lacks a solid theoritical basis and leads to unsurmantouble problems in tryingto define stochastic processes. I found this to be the best instructional book for those who want to transition from classical to the measure theoretic probability. I am not sure it is the best introductory book for measure theory and Lebesgue integration although the author offers a complete exposition in the first chapters. It is however an excellent exposition of how to apply these results in probability theory. By reading the book and doing the exercises the reader can gain intuition and start formulating probabilistic problems in this framework. View all my reviews

Electrodynamics and Classical Theory of Fields and Particles by Asım O. Barut My rating: 5 of 5 stars An excellent book that explores the extent to which one can take Field Theory and Electrodynamics within a non-quantum mechanical framework. The book starts with a very comprehensive exposition of (quasi) axiomatic relativity and the relativistic formulation of field theory. Although a classical treatise this book is extremely helpful to the student of Quantum Field Theory, since the methodology of deriving gauge-invariant field equations are essentially identical in the classical and quantum setting. View all my reviews

The Comedians by Graham Greene My rating: 3 of 5 stars The story takes place in Haiti in the 60s during the brutal dictatorship of Duvalier. The story is centered around an aged white man, who returns to a devastated Haiti in desperate search for a place to call home. The book's main character and narrator, Mr. Brown, was born in Monaco and has lived more of less like a drifter and a fortune hunter. When he inherited a hotel in Haiti from his semi-estranged mother he finally had a place of his own for the first time. Duvalier's regime drove away tourism and his hotel languished. Nevertheless, with nowhere else to go he returns to the island and stubbornly tries to make a home of the hotel, and a family of his lover, who is the wife of a diplomat. On the boat there, he meets Major Jones, the Smiths, and some other characters, who are to comprise the cast of "the Comedians". The book is of course not a comedy, and it is very sparsely ...

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino My rating: 5 of 5 stars An amazing and truly original book. The hero is the reader. The reader starts reading a book and just when the plot begins to thicken, the story changes and another story begins. The reader tries to recover the original story but soon becomes entangled in the new one. This goes on and the reader is following a path of unfinished stories, each fascinating and each written in completely different style. This book is a true masterpiece! View all my reviews

The Penguin Atlas of African History by Colin McEvedy My rating: 3 of 5 stars Almost every other page on this book contains an annotated map that illustrates what the text describes. The book starts out well, going back to the times of the Pangaea, describes the break up, the distribution of mammal species, the evolution of the various homos, and the migration of homo sapiens sapiens out of Africa. From that point on, the book starts focusing mainly on Northern Africa and the Mediterranean. As the story progresses it becomes clear that this is "African History" mostly from the perspective of Europeans, with a few Arabs and Turks in the mix. Kingdoms and empires in the Southern African regions receive scant mention. The author becomes the most talkative around the "Age of Discovery", and describes with fascination with the exploits of the Portuguese, mentioning the indigenous African kingdoms briefly and only relative to their rele...

The Travels of Ibn Battutah by Ibn Battuta My rating: 4 of 5 stars Reading the travels of Ibn Battutah was a long journey. I got a nice edition with gilded edge paper and an elegant ribbon book marker. The books is diminutive in size, but thanks to its very thin pages and tiny print, which makes it hard to read in less than perfect lighting, it packs almost 450 pages. Thankfully, it is an abridged edition. I have no idea how big the full version is. It is a hobby of mine to read ancient history by ancient writers. I am not interested in accuracy - after all history mutates every couple generations - but I am curious to experience that distant world through the eyes of people who lived in it. I have mostly read Greek, Roman, and assorted European authors, so when I found out about this book, I was very much looking forward to the novel experience of reading a Muslim author of the 14th century who traveled in lands where the European seldom or never ve...

I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan My rating: 3 of 5 stars This a story told by the Devil who occupies the mortal body of a writer called Declan Gunn, an obvious anagram of the authors name. As is to be expected, Lucifer is quite a character, so the book is quite entertaining, though not consistently. The narrative often wonders, by Satan makes it clear from the beginning that that's his style and the reader better get on board with it. Interestingly, the book sticks very closely to the traditions of Christian dogma and tries to work within the framework. Lucifer's rebellion, the garden, the fall, Christ, the resurrection, are all there together with an omnipotent and omniscient God. The book briefly and superficially explores the paradoxical implications of omniscience and free will. There is ample criticism of our race and the choices we made, and how they make Satan happy. Some passages I found particularly entertaining, like the one where Satan te...

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells My rating: 4 of 5 stars I just read (or most probably reread) the invisible man. It is considered to be an early science fiction/horror story. These elements are definitely there, to some extent, by in my opinion it is an early superhero story. It predates Superman by about 40 years and it has a completely different take on the superhero concept. The foundational principles are the same: A person obtains a super power. The person aims to use the power to some effect. The person considers it essential to hide their identity lest they be persecuted for being different. The differences to the modern superhero narrative are striking and in my opinion are what make this story so fascinating. First of all, the main character does not wish to use his power for good. Quite the opposite.That makes him the first super villain as well as the first super hero. Then it is also the fact that the super power is also a super weakness....

King Jesus by Robert Graves My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have tried reading this book a couple of times before, but this time I persevered. Let me offer fair warning that, although I am usually careful not to void spoilers, I will not take such precautions in this review and what follows will be chock full of them. The first part of the book is entertaining enough but made tedious by the technicalities concerning various Jewish sects and regions around the inception of the Roman Empire. There is ample talk of Pharisees, Sadducees, Philistines, Zealots, Edomites, Samaritans, and countless other denominations without any context. The reader is supposed to know about them or look them up elsewhere. Another hindrance to the flow of the story is Graves' characteristic deep dives into mythological themes and his attempt to form complicated - and at times dubious - connections between the various religions and their origins, always culminating in the conce...