Book Review. Or is it?

Sometime back, on a boring weekend I strolled in Barnes & Noble and bought a book on impulse. And ever since then I had a struggle finishing it. It is a book on Riemann Hypothesis, one of the seven unsolved problems which carry a prize tag by the Clay Institute of Mathematics.

Wait, before I go any further, I anticipate the question what the heck I'm doing reading a book on mathematics and that too a book on one of the unresolved problems. Also, people who know me would wonder what in this world made me, a first class dunce when it comes to mathematics, take up this book.

Yes, I am no good when it comes to mathematics and even to this day, my Higher secondary school teacher would remember me well enough to attest this. Which teacher would forget a guy sitting in the first bench snoring within 5 minutes of the start of the class? And that too in each and every class! The only classes I didn't sleep, I still remember, are where he lectured on the equations of parabola, ellipse and hyperbola. I don't know why I didn't sleep in those, just that I didn't. To be fair to me, the maths class was a combined two hour session scheduled immediately after lunch! Ofcourse lunch was for everybody and I don't know why & how others kept awake, while only I slept. All they gave was just moral support.

My dreaming in maths classes didn't help a bit. I came dangerously close to failing in that paper.I had to go to extra tuition to make sure I clear the paper in the school finals. But still I had an extra-large dose of heebie-jeebies when waiting for the results. To my huge surprise I cleared, albeit with very low marks.
So I and Mathematics didn't have a cordial relationship for a very long time. Then sometime later in my aborted attempt at an engineering diploma, I had the fortune to have two eminent teachers of Mathematics, Mr.Raman and Mr.N.Srinivasan.They made I and Mathematics shake hands and smile a bit too! But it was too late by then. The school finals could not be revisited and so my dreams of studying B.E going on to acquire an electrical engineering degree and become a software guy went bust.
So whenever possible, I pursue my efforts to befriend those school subjects who once bullied me mercilessly. You never know when an acquaintance with a subject will help you. For example if I were to date a woman, who happens to be a Fields medal aspirant, I can hold my own when the discussion veers to zeta functions and how the Mertens function if proved true could have solved the Riemann hypothesis! I would nod my head intelligently. Otherwise I would be just nodding my head. See the difference?

Ofcourse men are put to tremendous hardship when figuring out what a woman's interests are and boning up on them. The easy way is to date a woman who works or studies with you. In this case you have enough time to gather intelligence , use it to good effect and then pop the question and the cork.

"Oh What a tangled web we weave,
when first we practise to deceive!"

As typical ads for cards, toys and shoes predict, women do not simply go ga-ga over teddy bears, chocolates and candies. They do that but not just that. For example in my pursuits I had to learn two, three languages, literature, music, poetry, quantum physics and what not. I am not going to tell the languages I had to sidle upto, incase smart deducers who call themselves my friends, find out my objects of pursuit, by trial, error and elimination. Those missions might have failed, but still the documents have to remain classified.

Men comparitively are more simple. Talk to us about the ball game of the country, cricket, soccer, baseball or basketball and we are putty. Me, you can talk to about how the one day cricket has corrupted the Test cricket's techniques, how when the ball gets the inner edge when the batsman tries to drive long-offishly, and goes to the fine-leg boundary, the crowds still applaud and you'll have me gazing fondly at you. Even otherwise I'll gaze fondly at you but in my mind I'll be thinking about whether India can convincingly win a Test match even while missing Sachin due to injury. Ofcourse in the first place "you" has to be feminine in gender.

So my hypothesis is that the longer men are single, the more intelligent they become trying to master various topics of conversation. Atleast the more intelligible they sound.

Okay, I have deviated much from my original intention that is to review the book I read. The book by Karl Sabbagh gives a layman level intro to the Riemann hypothesis. Don't ask me to explain the hypothesis. I've read it but I cannot lecture on it. It's all for intelligent nodding, remember? I am not supposed to spout formulae. Well, the reason I purchased it because, three years back, I chanced upon a book on Fermat's theorem and how the Fermat Theorem was proved by Andrew Wiles. That book by Simon Singh (if I remember correctly, I am not sure) went at a blistering pace, the narrative similar to a thriller fiction. That made me buy this book and I then found that this book doesn't have the same pace, but still okay. Actually this book narrates the history behind the hypothesis and the ongoing struggle to prove or disprove the hypothesis interestingly.

The Riemann Hypothesis, if true, proves that there is a rule for generating the prime numbers, the building blocks of all other numbers. At the moment it cannot be proved that such a rule operates. The distribution of prime numbers in the long list of whole numbers do not fit to any pattern and look random. But Bernhard Riemann identified a mathematical function, now called the Riemann zeta function which is a sum of series whose expression involves complex numbers. This Riemann zeta function generates an infinite set of numbers called the zeroes of the function which describe the prime number distribution. Too abstract, atleast for me.The book assumes that the reader is pretty ignorant about Mathematics, which is fine by me for the most part. But at times the author takes this too far when he explains what a numerator and a denominator are! I recommend this book for readers like me, once badly bitten (by mathematics) but not shy.

Title: The Riemann Hypothesis-The Greatest Unsolved problem in Mathematics
Author: Karl Sabbagh
Publishers: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY.
www.fsgbooks.com

P.S: Except about the book and my academic performance, rest all are work of fiction!

All jazz; No moss!

Recently, I got hooked on Rolling Stone magazine. My roommate had a subscription and when it ended I found myself buying it in stores.

Primarily it deals with music and news from the music world. It also dabbles in politics and leaning towards the Democrats as the music and arts world tend to. From what I have seen, almost everyone in entertainment and music industry seem to be Democrats or atleast viciously against Republicans.

I got to hear some very good music (to me) due to Rolling Stones. Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, White Stripes and Hawthorne Heights for example. I found that the albums live up to their recommendations.

Another thing I liked about the mag is the investigative piece they do. Every issue contains a detailed expose on any one topic. Be it the ongoing war or Scientology or some cop who is on a witchhunt they meticulously back up their line of view.

The mag has a zany sense of humour streaking through, too.

A cool read, but wouldn't make you intelligent in any way.
Who cares!
:-)

200% Indian!!

Elections are due in Tamilnadu besides some other states. The state's Public Elections Department has put out the entire voterlist of the state in the net. Laudable initiative!

I searched for my name in the list and guess what! My name appears twice in the list!!

I have two votes!! Yeaaaah! I may be in a place too far to come and vote. Still, the Government must have realized that I am very patriotic and decided to bestow me with two votes.
More than any award, I say. :-)

Horror of horrors

Lately I've begun noticing that I'm reading lesser and lesser. This would be normal for most people as it is difficult for one to continue reading beyond your work needs as you settle in your job. But among my relatives I was known for my reading. No, not for the stuff I read. It's the voracity I'm talking about. I used to read anything without any preference. And almost tended to be just light stuff. Magazines, fiction kitsch, news papers, old newspapers that the grocer used for packing etc.. Basically anything went.

Some people remember the characters of all the novels they read. Not me. I basically read for enjoying the read. Usually I recognize what I've already read but never the characters. Ofcourse rare exceptions are there.

In my once daily train commute to work and back, if I were to be without anything to read it would be difficult for me to endure the ride. I'd crane my neck on to what others would be reading. I'd even borrow some reading material.
I still remember Saraswati puja days of then, when it'd be tough going for me without the daily newspaper. The only stuff I was not interested in reading was the academic books and Mills & Boon. Otherwise I've read even while walking!!

Such a person, I used to be. But not anymore. Yesterday I went to Borders, the books and music chain. I found myself gravitating more towards music racks than books. Not that books lost the allure. They speak in their own language to me, still. But somehow, I could not bring myself to buy them as I know I've already three unread books with me. I've committed to myself that I won't be buying anymore till I finish them. All I bought was two frivolous magazines. And that too because I've decided not to buy music CDs for now.
The 10 or so I've ordered, are in transit, that's why. :-)

The net is a culprit to a great extent. I like to check all my mail IDs atleast twice a day. Orkut and blog-hopping takes up the rest of the time.

Last week I was furious about myself for not doing enough reading. I decided on a drastic action. I vowed to myself that till I complete atleast one pending book, I won't be coming near my laptop. It lasted all of an evening. After dinner, I promptly went to an early sleep instead of reading. Morning I found myself catching up on my lost net-surfing.

Also my friends whom I used to discuss books are not with me now. I've moved cities since.

Somebody help me!!! Any ideas how to get back on reading? And that's reading like a maniac which I used to be.

Missing Millions!!

On Saturday I watched Rang De Basanti one more time. Still I am hung on the way the characters have been etched, the way songs blend, the way editing makes the movie weave....I can go on.
The movie also focusses on religious harmony in addition to the defense scandal which is the main theme. The gang camraderie is shown to exercise more influence over religion and family. That set me thinking. Among my friends there is nobody who practises Islam. Wondering whether this could be a weird thing, I embarked on some preliminary back-of-the-envelope research.
Total Indian population as of 2003 - 1065462000
The Muslim population of India is said to be anywhere between 13% to 20% depending on whom you read. Assuming 15 %, they come to 159819300 in 2003 itself. They form the second largest religious community. Not only that, Indian Muslims are among the biggest in countrywide Muslim population demographics of the world.
So even if not 15% atleast 5 % of my friends should be Muslims, right? No!! I have Christian friends whose religion comes only after Islam in numerical strength in India. But no Muslims among my friends. Thinking further, I could not recollect beyond 2,3 people as Muslims even among my acquaintances.

It seems strange to me.
Is it that we have been segregating ourselves, even without fundamentalist bigots egging us on?
Or is it that ancient caste divide has manifested itself into a religious divide too, with only select communities adopting religious conversion?
Are we practising any kind of apartheid here?
The word "apartheid" is obnoxious, but truth is seldom sweet. I am sure some of us may have differing religious statistics of their friends, but I am looking at the normal distribution pattern, and that doesn't bode well to me.
The more I am distant away from a thing, the more I would be misinformed about that. More the distortion, the more easier my mindset can be turned against a thing. I can easily be "made" biased against something which I am unfamiliar of. I can be brought to hate something which in my mind is sinister.
Ofcourse, here "I" refers to my countrymen of all religions.

Men can't win

On April 1, me and my friend A were chit chatting. He was espousing a seemingly brilliant idea to me. It was about proposing to a girl.

A: April 1 is the best day to tell a girl that you love her.
Me: How?
A: You tell a girl that you love her. If she accepts it, then fine. If she rejects it and starts spewing noble thoughts on how the relationship should be platonic and such blah, you can laugh at her face and cry, "April Fool". Either way you come off unscathed by her. :-)
Infact he was grinning ear to ear explaining me this.
Me: yeah, seems a brilliant one.
After some thinking,
Me: What if she says yes to your proposal and then seeing you glow, cries "April Fool" onto your face?
We laugh together uproariously at this. Hmm....Conniving men and convoluted thoughts!!

And you thought GD is a cool management tool!

Cockroaches Make Group Decisions
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

March 30, 2006 — Cockroaches govern themselves in a very simple democracy where each insect has equal standing and group consultations precede decisions that affect the entire group, indicates a new study.

The research determined that cockroach decision-making follows a predictable pattern that could explain group dynamics of other insects and animals, such as ants, spiders, fish and even cows.

"Cockroaches use chemical and tactile communication with each other," said José Halloy, who co-authored the research, which is outlined in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "They can also use vision."

Looks like visionary management gurus were making cockroaches of all B-school grads! Me couldn't stop laughing reading this.

Source:http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060327/cockroach_ani.html?source=rss