In this unusual and penetrating work, Clifford Pickover internationally recognized science popularizer - takes us on a wild ride through the bizarre lives of brilliant, but eccentric geniuses who made significant contributions to science and philosophy.
Unveiling the hidden secrets of a number of the most intelligent and prolific real-life mad scientists, Pickover delights us with unexpected stories of their obsessive personalities and strange phobias. These common threads lead us to wonder if creativity and genius are inextricably linked to madness.
A highly entertaining collection of oddity and mischief, this original new work playfully uncovers the scandalous details that lurk behind the unseemly lives of these geniuses.
Mathematical Methods in Linquistics is far more about mathematical methods than about linguistics, although in many places linquistics is used as a source of examples. Instead it covers such mathematical topics as sets (including infinite sets), relations, a good deal of mathematical logic, automata (up to turing machines), the lambda calculus, lattices and more. This would be an excellent book for an advanced undergraduate or graduate student in either mathematics or computer science to use either as a review text, or as a study guide for further investigation.
Knowledge of Things Human and Divine: Vico's New Science and Finnegan's Wake By Donald Phillip Verene
This is the first book to examine in full the interconnections between Giambattista Vico's new science and James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Maintaining that Joyce is the greatest modern "interpreter" of Vico, Donald Phillip Verene demonstrates how images from Joyce's work offer keys to Vico's philosophy. Verene presents the entire course of Vico's philosophical thought as it develops in his major works, with Joyce's words and insights serving as a guide. The book devotes a chapter to each period of Vico's thought, from his early orations on education to his anti-Cartesian metaphysics and his conception of universal law, culminating in his new science of the history of nations. Verene analyzes Vico's major works, including all three editions of the New Science. The volume also features a detailed chronology of the philosopher's career, historical illustrations related to his works, and an extensive bibliography of Vico scholarship and all English translations of his writings.
James Joyce's Ulysses: A Reference Guide by Bernard McKenna
Perhaps the most important literary achievement of the 20th century, Ulysses is also one of the most challenging. This reference introduces beginning readers to Joyce and his novel, removes some of the obstacles readers face when confronting his text, provides background information to facilitate understanding of the nuances of the book, and illuminates the critical dialogue surrounding his work. With the help of this guide, beginning readers will discover the rewards of reading the novel and find that they outweigh the potential obstacles to understanding Ulysses. To introduce readers to Joyce and his work, the volume begins with a short biography and a survey of the importance and cultural impact of Ulysses. Most beginning readers find it difficult to follow Joyce's plot, and so they abandon the text in frustration. Thus the book includes the most detailed available plot summary of Joyce's novel. The chapters that follow overview the novel's publication history; its historical and cultural contexts, including Modernism, Irish literature and history, and political and social trends; major themes and issues; Joyce's narrative art, including his character development, language, images, and style; and the academic and critical response to the work. The volume closes with a bibliographical essay.
Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland 450 - 1150
by Christina Harrington
This work is a groundbreaking study of the varieties of holy life available to, and pursued by, early medieval Irish women. The author explores a wide range of source material from legal texts, saints' lives, litanies, penitentials, canons, and poetry in order to illuminate female religious life and changes in attitudes towards it over time.
Considering that this is a scholarly publication, it is a surprisingly smooth read. The author has delved deeply into the maelstrom of Irish and Latin texts that make up the source material, resulting in a fresh and sometimes penetrating analysis of the state of holy women of various sorts in the church of Ireland circa 450-1150. However, this book is not for the impatient, the argument can sometimes take some time to build; be patient though. While most passages from the sources are provided in english translation, a knowledge of Latin would be helpful for the numerous short bits that are left untranslated, but this is not crucial for following the argument.
