Hot enough to cook a book
It was just a bit warm and humid out there today. How warm and humid, you may ask?
As I grabbed up my stuff to head for work this morning, I accidentally picked up my current read, a book I’d received for my birthday and that I was enjoying quite a bit, even though I’d have no time to read it. I ended up leaving it in the back seat while at work.
Upon returning to the car a few hours later, I drove home. At this point I reached back to retrieve the book to take it inside. The cover came willingly, but the pages came completely loose and scattered mercilessly on the seat. Now I don’t know if it’s just that they’re not making Penguin paperbacks like they used to, or if it was just that hot and humid, but I never saw this as a possible outcome of a few hours in a roasting automobile (especially because I’m pretty sure I’ve left it there a couple time before on days that weren’t too much kinder).
Now the book in question was titled, Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. It’s a bit mathy (new word as far as I can tell), but it’s completely engaging—well, at least the parts I got to read. I’ll read the rest when I figure out which pages go where. But in the mean time, if you’re looking for the intersection of math history, wit and wisdom, you might enjoy it (or who knows? -you might send me a new copy).
