Infinity: Beyond the Beyond the Beyond

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the book "Infinity: Beyond the Beyond the Beyond" by Lillian Lieber and Hugh Lieber. Participants express their thoughts on the book's content, its readability, and its value in relation to other works by the authors. The conversation touches on personal experiences with mathematical literature and the varying perceptions of the authors' writing style.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses uncertainty about the book's worthiness, seeking opinions on its value and content.
  • Another participant shares fond memories of a different work by the authors, suggesting that the book might be worth reading based on their positive experience.
  • A participant mentions issues regarding the reprinting of another book by the authors, indicating a potential interest in their works.
  • One participant critiques Lieber's writing style, stating that they found previous works to be overly simplified and lacking in depth, contrasting their experience with the opinions of others who may have had different reactions.
  • The same participant reflects on how personal experiences with literature can vary widely, citing an example of a book they initially dismissed but later found valuable.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the value of Lieber's writing. There are mixed opinions regarding the accessibility and depth of her works, with some expressing dissatisfaction while others suggest a more favorable view.

Contextual Notes

Participants' evaluations of the book are influenced by their personal experiences and expectations, which may not align with each other. There is an acknowledgment of the subjective nature of literary critique in mathematics and physics.

raolduke
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Infinity : Beyond the Beyond the Beyond
by
Lillian Lieber, and Hugh Lieber

I am not sure how many of you on this forum are familiar with this book but I have a copy of it and it seems very interesting but very strange. I want to know if its worth a read. I enjoy the talk of SAM and I want to get into the book but don't want to read another dead-end.
thankzzz
 
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I'm not familiar with this book, but some of my fondest memories of high school was stumbling onto their charming book "The Einstein Theory Of Relativity". It starts from nothing at all and leads you, step by step, to Einstein's equations in their full tensorial glory. Amazing. (I should dig it up and reread it; I haven't written a Christoffel symbol in decades. :rolleyes:)

So my advice, since you already have it, is to give it a try.
 
Doc Al said:
I'm not familiar with this book, but some of my fondest memories of high school was stumbling onto their charming book "The Einstein Theory Of Relativity". It starts from nothing at all and leads you, step by step, to Einstein's equations in their full tensorial glory. Amazing. (I should dig it up and reread it; I haven't written a Christoffel symbol in decades. :rolleyes:)
There had been some difficulty in reprinting this book because of ambiguity in the ownership of the copyright. I don't know how the issue got resolved, but now I see that Amazon is taking pre-orders for a reprint that has not yet been released.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1589880447/?tag=pfamazon01-20
 
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as a high school student in love with math, i got next to nothing out of lieber's "education of tc mits", or her "galois and the theory of groups". these were books that my teacher recommended to me, and to me they were almost in the category of the horrible books by james fenimore cooper that the librarian recommended as literature.

in my opinion she writes for people she seems to think have no chance of understanding the topic, so does not make it feasible that they will do so by reading her books. i remember only very dumbed down and corny explanations interspersed with brief snatches of real math but not in enough detail or precision to grasp.

but others here have apparently had different experiences. maybe i would too if i looked again after 50 years, but i am not much motivated to do so.

but you cannot know without reading it yourself. a friend once put me off the great treatise of eilenberg maclane on homological algebra, saying it was something bad. years later i opened it and found it wonderfully clear and powerful. when i went back he admitted he was only repeating what his brother had said, and when quizzed, the brother denied saying the same thing, claiming he had only found it "tedious", i.e. apparently too detailed and clear!
 
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