[lbo-talk] help

Tayssir John Gabbour tayssir.john at googlemail.com
Thu Sep 27 08:53:26 PDT 2007


On 9/27/07, Andy F <andy274 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 9/27/07, Tayssir John Gabbour <tayssir.john at googlemail.com> wrote:
> > So why didn't I contact the IWW and organize the workplace? Well,
> > right now I'm reading social histories of airy subjects like math.
> > THERE, they discuss how society needs institutions to mentor and
> > nurture peoples' talents.
>
> Titles? Are they in the "what are you reading" thread?

Most are, though not all. I'd be grateful if others have recommendations.

* Philip Davis and Reuben Hersh. The Mathematical Experience

"Up till about five years ago, I was a normal mathematician. I

didn't do risky and unorthodox things, like writing a book such as

this."

* Hersh. What Is Mathematics, Really?

In the last chapter, he links up various views of math with right-

and left-wing politics. (In his view, that means elitism and

anti-elitism.)

Incidentally, those who like Martin Gardner (the recreational math

guy) might enjoy Gardner's book _The Whys of a Philosophical

Scrivener_. He rejects anarchism, "Smithianism", etc. I recall

he's into social democracy or something. I think he makes way too

many assumptions, but he's upfront.

Anyway, Gardner negatively reviewed this book and the last one I

mentioned, _The Mathematical Experience_:

http://cs.nyu.edu/pipermail/fom/1997-November/000128.html

* Davis and Hersh. Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics

* 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics

http://books.google.com/books?id=ebKbDCbEI2gC&pg=PP1&dq=reuben+hersh&sig=eR5krLDc_ajjn5in_tWzd2_37Gs#PPP1,M1

Haven't read this yet.

* Kolmogorov, Aleksandrov, Lavrent'ev: Mathematics: Its Content, Methods And Meaning

The intro presented a capsule history of math from a 1963's

marxist perspective. Unfortunately, the part about "dialectical

materialism" was excluded from the English version. I heard

Kolmogorov wrote a similar (identical?) paper:

"In 1938, he published a large article, 'Mathematics,' in the first

edition of the Bolshaya Sovyetskaya Entsiklopediya ('Great Soviet

Encyclopaedia'), in which he described the development of

mathematics from ancient to modern times and interpreted it in

terms of dialectical materialism."

* Gian-Carlo Rota. Indiscrete Thoughts

http://books.google.com/books?id=H5smrEExNFUC&pg=PP1&dq=gian+carlo+rota&sig=9sN5mQEYGF6tFCmv3SAZivwWydM

Publishing this book apparently angered some people.

Entertaining and even gossipy book. Hersh (in the foreword)

admitted he didn't grok the occasional mentions of "Husserl's

phenomenology" either.

Tayssir



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list