Sunday, August 28, 2011


The Aeneid by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles with Introduction by Bernard Knox. 2006, ISBN 0-670-03803-2. Last of the three epic poems from the Greeks and Romans. This story, written by Virgil, hundreds of years after Homer tells of events that occur at about the same time as the Odyssey. It is the story of Aeneas and other surviving Trojans who escape Troy and make their way to Italy to found Rome. The story has elements of both Odyssey and Iliad in it, the long wandering journey and the epic battles. Book was purchased at Borders, 11-17-2006 for $32.00.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Facts on File - Calculus Handbook by Eli Maor. 2005, ISBN 0-8160-6229-3. This a reference book intended for students of calculus. There is a six page historical introduction to calculus. This followed by four sections of reference material. The first is a Glossary that defines many terms related to calculus, trigonometry, analytic geometry and strangely economics and finance. The second section contains Biographies of various mathematicians, third is a section of Chronology that lists significant events in the history of mathematics and finally the fourth section has some tables listing various facts about trigonometry and calculus.
The glossary is hard to read from beginning to end because it is an A-Z dictionary of math terms. It isn't intended to be read that way, but instead as a place for the student to look up terms. The other sections can be read from beginning to end or just those parts that the reader is interested in.