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John R. Graham
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 Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:40 am Post subject: |
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Alas, no fiction right now. I'm behind the curve (pun intended) on the math behind Elliptic Curve Cryptography. Reading Abstract Algebra, by Dummit & Foote and Guide to Elliptic Curve Cryptography, by Hankerson, Menezes, and Vanstone.
Last fiction I read was Cryoburn, by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm a fan of the Barrayar series.
- John
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richk449
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | From the review at that link:
| Quote: | | We learn how the spread of malaria, the potato, tobacco, guano, rubber plants, and sugar cane have disrupted and convulsed the planet and will continue to do so until we are finally living on one integrated or at least close-to-integrated Earth. |
What does he mean by "integrated" there? |
I am only about a quarter of the way through, so it is possible the meaning will change, but here is how I understand it so far:
Prior to Columbus's voyage, the continents tended to be relatively isolated from each other. Not entirely so, but there was very little "exchange" between them. Thus the plants, animals, germs, etc. were different on each continent. In the centuries after Columbus, trade between continents exploded, transferring organisms from one continent to another. In some cases it was intentional, such as crops brought to or back from the new world, and in other cases it was unintentional, such as malaria and other diseases. Each of these transfers caused "shock waves" in the existing culture. The book is really about how these shock waves played out, and continue to play out, not just in immediate consequences, but in second and higher order effects.
Here is my poor attempt to reproduce one example: when European settlers brought malaria over, it devestated both the native americans and the settlers themselves. The survival rates for Europeans moving to the Americas were amazingly low. However, because of the temperature difference, malaria survived much better in the southern part of what is now America than in the northern part. When it came to manual labor for farming, the northern areas could get by with just about any source of workers, such as indentured servant Europeans. In the southern areas though, resistance to malaria was necessary to have decent odds of surviving for an extended period, and the only peoples with a high degree of resistance to malaria were Africans. This was at least one likely factor in establishing slavery so strongly in the south.
So the phrase "will continue to do so until we are finally living on one integrated or at least close-to-integrated Earth" is, I suppose, intended to convey that these shocks are still propagating today. As the various continents become more and more similar, the shock waves die down, and on a fully "integrated" planet, these massive disruptions would not occur.
Except that I don't really think the author would agree with this, at least based on what I have read. The "shocks" happened because the continents evolved mostly independently for long periods, and then were suddenly re-introduced. Even without this independent evolution though, new crops and techniques and science can still cause huge shocks to occur.
The book isn't preachy at all. It just traces the consequences of the mixing of cultures.
Here is one small example of the author speaking. His speaking skills leave much to be desired. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aI-zPPOBl4 |
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:21 am Post subject: |
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Every Democrat should be held down and forced to read that or else not be allowed to vote.
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dmitchell
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:34 am Post subject: |
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I'm sure it's good but I wouldn't lead with an endorsement by David Horowitz, of all people. Blood thirsty neocon kook, that guy.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:57 am Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | I'm sure it's good but I wouldn't lead with an endorsement by David Horowitz, of all people. Blood thirsty neocon kook, that guy. |
You used to be a neocon too, didn't you?
Is there a chart somewhere we can see if former neocons are still neocons?
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Last edited by BoneKracker on Tue May 01, 2012 5:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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richk449
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:10 am Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | I'm sure it's good but I wouldn't lead with an endorsement by David Horowitz, of all people. |
Exactly what I thought. Except for the "I'm sure it's good" part. |
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bogamol
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| richk449 wrote: | | BoneKracker wrote: | From the review at that link:
| Quote: | | We learn how the spread of malaria, the potato, tobacco, guano, rubber plants, and sugar cane have disrupted and convulsed the planet and will continue to do so until we are finally living on one integrated or at least close-to-integrated Earth. |
What does he mean by "integrated" there? |
I am only about a quarter of the way through, so it is possible the meaning will change, but here is how I understand it so far:
Prior to Columbus's voyage, the continents tended to be relatively isolated from each other. Not entirely so, but there was very little "exchange" between them. Thus the plants, animals, germs, etc. were different on each continent. In the centuries after Columbus, trade between continents exploded, transferring organisms from one continent to another. In some cases it was intentional, such as crops brought to or back from the new world, and in other cases it was unintentional, such as malaria and other diseases. Each of these transfers caused "shock waves" in the existing culture. The book is really about how these shock waves played out, and continue to play out, not just in immediate consequences, but in second and higher order effects.
Here is my poor attempt to reproduce one example: when European settlers brought malaria over, it devestated both the native americans and the settlers themselves. The survival rates for Europeans moving to the Americas were amazingly low. However, because of the temperature difference, malaria survived much better in the southern part of what is now America than in the northern part. When it came to manual labor for farming, the northern areas could get by with just about any source of workers, such as indentured servant Europeans. In the southern areas though, resistance to malaria was necessary to have decent odds of surviving for an extended period, and the only peoples with a high degree of resistance to malaria were Africans. This was at least one likely factor in establishing slavery so strongly in the south.
So the phrase "will continue to do so until we are finally living on one integrated or at least close-to-integrated Earth" is, I suppose, intended to convey that these shocks are still propagating today. As the various continents become more and more similar, the shock waves die down, and on a fully "integrated" planet, these massive disruptions would not occur.
Except that I don't really think the author would agree with this, at least based on what I have read. The "shocks" happened because the continents evolved mostly independently for long periods, and then were suddenly re-introduced. Even without this independent evolution though, new crops and techniques and science can still cause huge shocks to occur.
The book isn't preachy at all. It just traces the consequences of the mixing of cultures.
Here is one small example of the author speaking. His speaking skills leave much to be desired. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aI-zPPOBl4 |
Okay, so the reviewer who wrote that comment is some kind of globalization or global government zealot who has chosen to interpret the book a substantiation of his or her world view. The book itself is not promoting such an agenda. Either that or the reviewer has a limited vocabulary and couldn't come up with a better word than "integrated". 
Sounds like an interesting book. I read something similar once, the title of which I cannot remember. It used a framework of analysis that classified these various interactions as "forces" of several types: economic; social; military; and so on. It was looking more broadly at global dynamics, though, I think.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:29 am Post subject: |
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| bogamol wrote: | | I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
I'd ask dmitchell.
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dmitchell
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | You used to be a neocon too, didn't you? |
Temporary insanity. I was a Thoreau reading, government-hating revolutionary in high school; a George "Humble foreign policy" Bush voter in 2000; a not-really-paying-attention-but-still-not-a-Democrat college student Bush voter in 2004; and an increasingly radical government-hating libertarian from 2006 to present. Somewhere in there is one or more periods of insanity. You can decide for yourself. :lol:
| Quote: | | Is there a chart somewhere we can see if former neocons are still neocons? |
No former neocons are still neocons.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | BoneKracker wrote: | | You used to be a neocon too, didn't you? |
Temporary insanity. I was a Thoreau reading, government-hating revolutionary in high school; a George "Humble foreign policy" Bush voter in 2000; a not-really-paying-attention-but-still-not-a-Democrat college student Bush voter in 2004; and an increasingly radical government-hating libertarian from 2006 to present. Somewhere in there is one or more periods of insanity. You can decide for yourself.
| Quote: | | Is there a chart somewhere we can see if former neocons are still neocons? |
No former neocons are still neocons. |
Except for those with the temporary insanity defense.
Think about the hundred million or so former Obama Zombies who will claim temporary insanity in the coming decade. Hey! That's a market opportunity. What can we sell them?
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Oldthinkers unbellyfeel INGSOC.
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Muso
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 6:37 am Post subject: |
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| richk449 wrote: | | dmitchell wrote: | | I'm sure it's good but I wouldn't lead with an endorsement by David Horowitz, of all people. |
Exactly what I thought. Except for the "I'm sure it's good" part. |
It is quite good. You'd benefit from reading it.
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bogamol
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Joined: 01 Nov 2009
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Location: Detroit, Michigan - The Home of Rock and Roll
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 6:47 am Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | bogamol wrote: | | I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
I'd ask dmitchell. |
Hey dmitchell...see above.
Edit: actually, hopefully someone who isn't as smart as dmitchell and yet still understands it pipes in. 
| Bonekraker wrote: | | What can we sell them. |
"I voted for Obamacare and all I got was this lousy hospital gown," printed hospital gowns. |
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Clad in Sky
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 7:28 am Post subject: |
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Leistner-Breckle - Pharmazeutische Biologie kompakt
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:11 am Post subject: |
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| bogamol wrote: | | "I voted for Obamacare and all I got was this lousy hospital gown," printed hospital gowns. |
You know, I learned that in many countries, unlike the U.S., hospital gowns do not have a gaping hole in back that exposes your ass.
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Oldthinkers unbellyfeel INGSOC.
-- Headline of a document on Winston Smith's terminal in his cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, seen briefly in the background in one scene of the movie rendition of Nineteen Eighty-Four. |
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Muso
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | bogamol wrote: | | "I voted for Obamacare and all I got was this lousy hospital gown," printed hospital gowns. |
You know, I learned that in many countries, unlike the U.S., hospital gowns do not have a gaping hole in back that exposes your ass. |
Seems like something a Corpsman would invent (or "Corpseman" if you're a complete incompetent).
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:15 am Post subject: |
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| bogamol wrote: | | BoneKracker wrote: | | bogamol wrote: | | I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
I'd ask dmitchell. |
Hey dmitchell...see above.
Edit: actually, hopefully someone who isn't as smart as dmitchell and yet still understands it pipes in. |
That doesn't cut it. You must kowtow and scrape a bit more obviously.
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Oldthinkers unbellyfeel INGSOC.
-- Headline of a document on Winston Smith's terminal in his cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, seen briefly in the background in one scene of the movie rendition of Nineteen Eighty-Four. |
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richk449
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| bogamol wrote: | | I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
Is there some area in particular you are interested in? Computational math describes a huge area. |
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richk449
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | Sounds like an interesting book. I read something similar once, the title of which I cannot remember. It used a framework of analysis that classified these various interactions as "forces" of several types: economic; social; military; and so on. It was looking more broadly at global dynamics, though, I think. |
Yea, it is kinda in the Guns, Germs, and Steel genre, but with much less emphasis on proving a particular thesis, and much more interesting. |
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pjp
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | Think about the hundred million or so former Obama Zombies who will claim temporary insanity in the coming decade. Hey! That's a market opportunity. What can we sell them? |
365 Easy Recipes for Brains, with forward by Chocolate Che.
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In Loving Memory
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Prenj
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bogamol
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Location: Detroit, Michigan - The Home of Rock and Roll
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| Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| richk449 wrote: | | bogamol wrote: | | I'm looking for something like a primer on Computational Mathematics. Any suggestions? |
Is there some area in particular you are interested in? Computational math describes a huge area. |
If I were to tell you a particular area, then the suggested reading would be too hard for me to understand right now. I have a hobby interest in programming. I interested in learning about the theory that goes behind it because I'd like in the future to be able to contribute to open source projects. I guess, I'd like to understand how a computer solves sqrt(x) or a limit or integral. I majored in Biology which uses lots of stats but isn't otherwise very math heavy, so I am deficient compared to a physics, chemistry, cs or math majors. Something that is a good overview of what is going on would help me out the best. So far, I've only been able to find ultra heavy text books...maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist. |
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sts
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| Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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So I feel a bit silly since most of you seem to be reading serious books but I just finished all three Dragon Tattoo books. I picked them up very cheaply in light of the somewhat recent US movie which is now on DVD.
Anyways, I couldn't help but notice that one of the main protagonists was a journalist who literally had sex with every single attractive woman along the way. Coincidentally, the author was also a journalist. |
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disi
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bawig1
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