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Book: A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper by John Allen Paulos

A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper Cover

TitleA Mathematician Reads the Newspaper: Making Sense of Numbers in the Headlines
AuthorJohn Allen Paulos
Publishing Date1995
PublisherFirst by Basic Books, then by Penguin
Formats AvailablePaperback, Kindle
Available atAmazon.com, Amazon.in.

Here is an example of mistaken precision quoted in the book:

“…museum guard who claimed the dinosaur on exhibit was 65,000,038 years old. When pressed about the precision of the number, the guard says that a scientist told him the dinosaur was 65 million years old when he was hired 38 years before”

In this book, John Allen Paulos takes us through the various sections of the newspapers and explains how math and numbers are key elements behind every story that we read. The book is quirky, perceptive, and uses a ‘light’ approach. Each chapter is very short (about 2 to 3 pages) and covers one topic or one segment of the newspaper. He keeps using analytical thinking and logic together with numbers and simple formulae to keep us hooked. Surprisingly, I found that the longer chapters were more engrossing than the shorter ones.

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The Other Side of MG Road, Bangalore (the boulevard is back!)

Normally, when we visit MG Road on a Sunday (usually to buy something or see a movie in one of malls), we walk along footpath on the side of the road with the shops. This side is crowded with shoppers, and hawkers selling goggles, used books, trinkets, and forex (sometimes). The sidewalk is narrow for the crowds, even on a Sunday.

MG Road Boulevard Old

Last Sunday, we decided to cross over to the other side at the Brigade Road junction and investigate the boulevard (that had re-opened some time in end 2012) – we were not sure what to expect.

For those who are new to Bangalore, there used be to a walking path on that side of MG Road for a very long time (see photo). This path was at a level slightly higher than the road and used to skirt the Manekshaw Parade Grounds and Cariappa Park.

The path was demolished some years ago to enable the construction of Namma Metro. A new boulevard was constructed along with the MG Road Metro station and was opened sometime end 2012. Here is a NDTV news report from around the time it was inaugurated.

If the youtube video does not load, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBijk6FY79E.

MG Road Boulevard Both LevelsThe new boulevard has two levels – one is at the level of the road and the second is elevated. From the elevated portion you get a better view of MG Road, and can see office sign boards and the structure of the buildings – things that are not noticeable when you walk right next to those buildings. The elevated part is mainly for walking, though there is a snack joint run by Dasaprakash. On one side of the elevated path is the Cariappa Park and on the other side we have the lower level of the boulevard and the main MG Road.

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TV Serial: Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (1980s)

Yes, Minister (and Yes, Prime Minister) – Extremely watchable, hilarious BBC TV serial from the 1980s – Review

I had enjoyed this BBC tele-serial in the late 80s. So, when Swapna (my wife) noticed the DVDs of the complete collection in a bookshop, I said “let’s buy them.” Though I was looking forward to seeing them again, I had a lingering suspicion that with the passage of time and a different context, I may not enjoy them as much (like many other books, movies, TV programs, and places that were great some years ago, but disappointing now). But my suspicion was unfounded, and I enjoyed watching all the episodes once again – maybe more than I enjoyed them when I saw them over 25 years ago.

So here are the details, for people who may want to indulge in nostalgia, and also for those who never saw the original series.

I believe that the series have been revived in 2013 with a new cast, but I have not seen any episodes, so I will not comment on the 2013 version.

BBC TV Series
GenrePolitical satire, British comedy TV
Created byAntony Jay and Jonathan Lynn
Original RunFeb 1980 to Jan 1988
[The series was revived in 2013, with a different cast]
CastPaul Eddington as Jim Hacker, first as a Minister and then as the Prime Minister of Britain
Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby the main civil servant through whom Jim Hacker has govern
Derek Fowlds as Bernard Woolley, Hacker’s Private Secretary
Deborah Norton as Dorothy Wainwright, Hacker’s political advisor in his stint as the PM
MusicRonnie Hazlehurst
Produced byStuart Allen, Sydney Lotterby, and Peter Whitmore
LanguageEnglish
EpisodesYes, Minister (22 episodes; 1980-7; 1981-7; 1982-8)
Yes, Prime Minister (16 episodes; 1986-8; 1987-8)The episodes are 30 min each.

Yes, Minister ImageAt the start of the series, James (Jim) Hacker’s party wins the general election in Britain and Hacker is appointed as the Minister of Administrative Affairs (I believe that such a minitry did not really exist in the 1980s).  Minister Hacker’s department is run by Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary, a senior civil servant. Hacker’s Principal Private Secretary is Bernard Woolley, another civil servant, but not as senior as Sir Humphrey. After a few years, due to some fortunate circumstances, Jim Hacker becomes the prime minister, and Sir Humphrey and Bernard get elevated along with the minister. Sir Humphrey assures his colleagues in the civil service that they have a ‘house-trained’ Prime Minister.

Extremely watchable and Hilarious

Each hilarious episode of 30 minutes focusses on the working of the British government – the central theme being the relationship between the politicians and the bureaucrats. Hacker usually comes up with (or supports) idealistic proposals that will bring in change but may diminish the power of civil servants. In the early episodes, Sir Humphrey usually manages to put Hacker in a spot, so that he is forced to withdraw his proposal in exchange of being saved by Sir Humphrey or one of his senior colleagues in the civil service. There are other episodes where Hacker and Humphrey have to reluctantly support one another.
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Book: King of Ayodhya by Ashok Banker (Ramayan series book-6)

“… When he had the rakshasha’s feet at his own waist level, Hanuman shoved them upwards with all his might; then, when Kumbhakarna was fully inverted and thrashing about desperately, he pushed downwards, literally shoving the rakshasha’s head down towards the bottom of the ocean.”

— Chapter 16, Kaand 4, King of Ayodhya

That was an excerpt from the fight scene between Hanuman and Kumbhakarna.

Cover King of Ayodhya

TitleKing of Ayodhya
SeriesVolume-6 of the 8 volume Ramayana series
AuthorAshok Banker

NOTE: Please read the comments on the whole series here , as the reviewer’s opinions on the series are expressed there.

The Story in Book-6

The high-level storyline in this book:

Hanuman returns to join Rama’s army at the site of the bridge construction (after inflicting huge damage to Lanka). Just when the army is about to cross the sea over the bridge, Varuna, the lord of the ocean, is beckoned by Ravana to unleash a storm and a tsunami. The storm-cum-tsunami destroys the bridge and kills and injures many of vanars and bears, even before they begin the journey to Lanka. They eventually do cross the sea (in an interesting way)  to reach Lanka.

Ravana, using sorcery once again, creates a huge earthquake to inflict further damages and also instill a sense of utter fear in Rama’s army.

The physical fighting starts and there are many evolving strategies, changing tactics, small battles won and lost, many vanars, bears and rakshashas killed. Eventually, Rama’s army wins, Ravana and his main generals are killed. Vibhisena is crowned the king of Lanka.
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The O-O-O Syndrome

Often, when I send emails to my colleague Ooonuj, I get a O-O-O (Out of Office) message with text like:

-Out of Office-

Hi –

I am travelling to Hongkong, Malaysia, and China and will be out of office till 1st December 2013.
I will have no access to my India handphone number. I shall respond to your mail, albeit a bit late.

In case of urgent matters which require immediate attention, please call / text me
@ +86 13602696490 or Contact VVSS ( vvss@emaildomain.com) on the following numbers:
Tel: 91-22- 421666xx / 2880 73xx /  2880 73xx / 2880 73xx

Regds

Ooonuj Anar

[Digression: I personally avoid setting any O-O-O messages. I normally am able to read my messages with a gap of no more than 6-7 hours. Also, I do not think I do anything is so time critical. And mainly I am afraid that my autoresponder with battle with Ooonuj’s autoresponder and rapidly choke the cyberspace in endless exchange of OOO messages :-)]

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Book: Bridge of Rama by Ashok Banker (Ramayan series book-5)

“Hanuman’s last jump took him so high, nobody could see where he went. He rose up into the air, passed through the now shredded cloudbank, and rose still higher, higher until he could not longer be seen. Several moments passed………

And then, with one final mighty burst of strength, he leaped again….”

— Chapter 12, Kaand 2, Bridge of Rama

That is Hanuman, making his leap to Lanka, and to wreak havoc there.

Cover Bridge of Rama

TitleBridge of Rama
SeriesVolume-5 of the 8 volume Ramayana series
AuthorAshok Banker

NOTE: Please read the comments on the whole series here , as the reviewer’s opinions on the series are expressed there.

The Story in Book-5

The high-level storyline in this part of the series:

Sita is held captive and as a hostage by Ravana in Lanka. Rama and Lakshman are planning to cross over to Lanka (from the mainland) to rescue Sita. Hanuman collects a huge army of vanars (from different tribes and sub-species), along with groups of sloth bears (rksas) for the conquest.

To the cross the sea, the army of vanars and bears start building a bridge using stones, wood, mud, and sand. All this while Ravana is also making preparations to face Rama and his army, and Sita is tormented by various rakshashis.

Hanuman discovers that he has super-powers bestowed to him as a result of the unique circumstances of his birth. Rama sends Hanuman to Lanka, as a last ditch effort at retriving Sita without having to wage a war and avoid death and destruction that would come in its wake.
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Book: Made To Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

The messages from this book have ‘stuck’ to me over seven years. I remember this book very well and have been implicitly and explicitly guided by concepts that I learnt when I read the book long ago.

The authors have managed to implement what they are trying to teach :-)!

The full title of the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Take Hold and Others Come Unstuck – makes the intent of the authors very clear. It is about conveying ideas and messages more effectively to achieve whatever you are trying to achieve Anyway, here is a passage from the Introduction of the book:

“We wrote this book to help you make your ideas stick. By ‘stick’, we mean that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact – they change your audience’s opinions and behavior.”

 — Introduction: What Sticks? – Made to Stick

Details of Made to Stick

Made to Stick Book Cover
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Take Hold and Others Come Unstuck

Authors: Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Publishing Date: 2007

Publisher: Arrow Books

Formats Available In: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio

Available at: Amazon.com, Amazon.in.
This book is an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication. Extremely well-written, it uses the principles that are proposed in the book for effectively making ideas stick with the audience. It continues with the idea of ‘stickiness’ earlier popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point.

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A Visit to Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, Karnataka

Himavad is a hilltop with a temple. It is also supposed to be very cold (compared to the rest of the region) – people have seen icicles in the temple.

The hilltop is located inside the Bandipur forest area. Is is around 80-84 km from Mysore, and around 17 km from Gundlupete, off the Mysore – Ooty highway.

We (Swapna and I) drove from Mysore to Nanjangud and from there we continued towards Gundlupete. Just before we entered Gundlupete, we took a break at a Cafe Coffee Day (they have clean toilets :-)). From Gundlupet we continued towards Bandipur sanctuary. Around 5-6 km from Gundlupete, we turned right under an arch at a village (there was also a signboard with “Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta” written on it).

Himavad Image-1Within a km of getting off the highway, we hit vast open spaces (see the first photo on the left). In front of us were the hills on which Himavad is located, on the left was the Bandipur sanctuary. On the right were open farmlands without any buildings. The border of the Bandipur area was fenced (it looked like an electrified fence, so don’t go too near it).

After driving some more distance (3 km) , we came to the foot of the hills and a gated check-post manned by the Forest Department. We paid Rs 50/= as an entry fee for the car (there is no entry fee for people or cameras, only for vehicles). We were told to be back in 1.5 hours at the gate – the entry ticket was valid for 1.5 hours only.

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Henlon’s Razor: Sound Principle for Processing Interpersonal Interactions

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Here is the statement, attributed to Robert J. Henlon:

  • "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".

Though the origin is not too clear, there are others who have been credited with similar statements/ quotes. Here are a few of them.

Science Fiction author Robert A. Heinlein in his short story Logic of Empire:

  • “You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in The Sorrows of Young Werther:

  • “…misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent.”

Jane West’s The Loyalists states something similar in a more sincere (less cynical/ insulting) manner:

  • “Let us not attribute to malice and cruelty what may be referred to less criminal motives. Do we not often afflict others undesignedly, and, from mere carelessness, neglect to relieve distress?”

All of the above can be applied to actions, situations, and interactions that cause inconvenience, hurt and pain, for many reasons:

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Book Series: Song of Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin

This series is an exceptionally well-written, addictive, and brutal epic fantasy set in an imaginary world based on medieval England/ Europe. It is less of a fantasy and more of a political thriller – some say that it is loosely based on the War of the Roses in England in the years 1455-1485.

The first of the series (A Game of Thrones) was published in 1996 and the series has 5 books (often sold in 7 paperbacks) already published. The sixth and the seventh (whose titles are announced) will be eventually published. Each book of the series has been a bestseller and there are a huge number of fans waiting for the next two books.

The epic has also been converted into a HBO serial. Some video games, based on the series have also become very popular.

Here are the images of the covers of these books:Song of Ice and Fire Series Cover Images

The High-Level Story

The story is set in a fictional world, and most action takes place in two continents – Westros and Essos.

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