Long Time No Amazon
Nov. 16th, 2009 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowAs of yesterday, it had been more than six months since I last ordered anything from Amazon. That has ended.
I intended to buy more than I did, but my connection was flaky; all during the session, an initial connection would usually 404, and I'd have to refresh to get where I was going. I got tired of that and signed off early. Still, I managed to request a fair bit of good stuff:
Mathematical Masterpieces, by Arthur Knoebel et al. This book aims at using primary historical sources to introduce advanced mathematical topics to college students. Doing so is very tricky, but according to the reviewer (in the American Mathematical Monthly) the authors have done a very good job.
The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook, by Victor Katz. Katz is the reviewer I mentioned above. This book includes translations (many hitherto unavailable in English) of the seminal works in non-Western mathematics. I'm especially looking forward to reading the Chinese texts.
Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, by Andrew Newman. The figure of Ismail I has intrigued me since I first read about him in Toynbee; he was a seminal figure in Middle Eastern history, especially as regards the rise of Shi'ism in Iran. I'm hoping to learn more about him.
Ptolemy's Gate, by Jonathan Stroud. This is the third book of the Bartimaeus trilogy; the second wasn't quite as good as the first, but it was still entertaining.
Grease Monkey, by Tim Eldred. This is an SFnal graphic novel involving, among other things, uplifted apes. I don't remember much else, not even who recommended it to me, but I do recall that it sounded intriguing.
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, by Kitty Burns Florey. This is a (reportedly) entertaining look at the history of sentence diagramming. (All right, my notions of what's entertaining are nonstandard....)
The Planiverse, by A. K. Dewdney. This is, sort of, another look at Flatland, from the point of view of someone of an engineering bent. Martin Gardner recommended it, long ago, in one of his Scientific American columns, and I've finally ordered it.
The Armies of Memory, by John Barnes. This is, apparently, the last of the Thousand Cultures books. The first two were outstanding, the third less so; we'll see about the fourth.
The last two probably won't arrive until the new year, unfortunately, but the rest should be here this week. And next week is Thanksgiving Break....
I intended to buy more than I did, but my connection was flaky; all during the session, an initial connection would usually 404, and I'd have to refresh to get where I was going. I got tired of that and signed off early. Still, I managed to request a fair bit of good stuff:
Mathematical Masterpieces, by Arthur Knoebel et al. This book aims at using primary historical sources to introduce advanced mathematical topics to college students. Doing so is very tricky, but according to the reviewer (in the American Mathematical Monthly) the authors have done a very good job.
The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook, by Victor Katz. Katz is the reviewer I mentioned above. This book includes translations (many hitherto unavailable in English) of the seminal works in non-Western mathematics. I'm especially looking forward to reading the Chinese texts.
Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, by Andrew Newman. The figure of Ismail I has intrigued me since I first read about him in Toynbee; he was a seminal figure in Middle Eastern history, especially as regards the rise of Shi'ism in Iran. I'm hoping to learn more about him.
Ptolemy's Gate, by Jonathan Stroud. This is the third book of the Bartimaeus trilogy; the second wasn't quite as good as the first, but it was still entertaining.
Grease Monkey, by Tim Eldred. This is an SFnal graphic novel involving, among other things, uplifted apes. I don't remember much else, not even who recommended it to me, but I do recall that it sounded intriguing.
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, by Kitty Burns Florey. This is a (reportedly) entertaining look at the history of sentence diagramming. (All right, my notions of what's entertaining are nonstandard....)
The Planiverse, by A. K. Dewdney. This is, sort of, another look at Flatland, from the point of view of someone of an engineering bent. Martin Gardner recommended it, long ago, in one of his Scientific American columns, and I've finally ordered it.
The Armies of Memory, by John Barnes. This is, apparently, the last of the Thousand Cultures books. The first two were outstanding, the third less so; we'll see about the fourth.
The last two probably won't arrive until the new year, unfortunately, but the rest should be here this week. And next week is Thanksgiving Break....
