Picks from Krantz....by Mogadalai

Picks from Krantz

by Mogadalai

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Steven G Krantz is a Professor of mathematics with a flair for writing. I love his writing style. Here are a few typical examples of the language that Krantz uses in his writing. The first is from his review of "The man who loved only numbers" and "My brain is open" published in The College Mathematics Journal (Vol. 32, No. 3, May 2001). The second and third are from his review of the book A new kind of science authored by Stephan Wolfram - The complete review may be be found at the following URL: http://www.math.wustl.edu/~sk/.

(1) A recent Monthly review of these two books concludes by saying that Hoffman's book is for the masses while Schechter's is for fellow mathematicians and physicists. This may be a polite way of saying that Hoffman's book is careless while Schechter's is a cogent and planned effort. Schechter can be held accountable; Hoffman cannot.

(2) At the end of the film Chinatown, detective Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) has uncovered a vastly complex and nefarious web of evil
perpetrated by wealthy land mogul Noah Cross (played by John Huston). In the dramatic closing scene, Nicholson is trying to find words to explain the police the infrastructure of depravity that he has identified; but he can find no way to articulate his thoughts. He ultimately points at Huston and cried, "He's rich!" Huston adopts a wry look on his face, smiles, and says, "I didn't know it was a crime to be rich...," and then credits roll. Stephen Wolfram seems to have uncovered a vastly complex and profound scheme of how the world functions. His intention is that his ideas will supersede all previous scientific thought--from Archimedes to Newton to Heisenberg to Witten. He has invested ten years and 1280 pages (and 100 million keystrokes on his computer!) in endeavouring to explain his discovery--not just to his colleagues but to the world at large. It is a noble effort, but in the end he is merely pointing his finger and crying, "It is complex!" I can just hear old Mother Nature saying, "I didn't know it was a crime to be complex."

(3) A number of years ago, the Dalai Lama visited the United States. As part of his travels, he visited the headquarters in Chicago of one of the great American news magazines. He was given the Cook's tour, and then there was a grand formal lunch at which the various executives of the enterprise pontificates ad nauseum. The Dalai Lama-an elfin man--sat swathed in his saffron robe, and inscrutable smile on his face, saying nothing. After about an hour, the CEO of the publishing company turned to the Dalai Lama and said, "Do you have any questions about our magazine, the nation's premiere news magazine? Go ahead, ask us anything at all." The Dalai Lama bowed his head for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Then he looked up and said, "Why do you publish it?"