Thursday, September 07, 2006

she just cannot pass up a sale

I went to the bookstore to buy a book for Miranda (Book #3 in the My Secret Unicorn chapterbook series she likes to read) and of course I had to browse the tables of sale-priced books. I showed restraint and only bought 2 books for myself, although there were another 2 which I had to fight to put back, and probably more if I had continued looking.

Bought:
Symposium and Phaedrus by Plato
Symposium attempts to find the ultimate manifestation of the love that controls the world, leading to mystic union with eternal and supercosmic beauty. Phaedrus discusses the psychology of love, resulting in the concept of the familiar Platonic "forms" as objects of transcendental emotion.

Sleep Talking (Science, Needs & Misconceptions) by Yvonne Harrison
Topis in this book – 1. a fascination with sleep, 2. sleep as a process, 3. sleep and the psyche, 4. sleep in the modern world. This book explores the importance of sleep-related issues by bringing together up-to-date research from fields of science, medicine, law, education and social studies.

Almost Bought:
A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg
From the Publisher
Infinity is a concept that fascinates everyone from a seven-year-old child to a maths professor. So remarkable and strange is it that contemplating it has driven at least two great mathematicians over the edge into insanity. Where did the concept of infinity come from? Who were the people who originally defined and later refined this paradoxical quantity? Why is infinity, a concept we can never experience or truly grasp, at the heart of science? How can some infinities be bigger than others? An exploration of the most mind-boggling feature of maths and physics, this work examines amazing paradoxes, for example Hilbert's Hotel. This imaginary resort has an infinite number of rooms, which all happen to be occupied. Unfortunately an endless coach turns up carrying an infinite number of new guests. It's not a problem though - it's easy to prove they can all be accommodated. The book also looks at: the people who devised and refined the concept, the many mind-bending paradoxes of infinity, infinity's place at the heart of mathematics and science in processes such as calculus, how dividing by zero brings infinity into view and infinity and cosmos.

A Brief History Of Globalization by Alex MacGillivray
From the Publisher
Globalization is fast becoming the most over-used and least understood word in the world. The accelerating political, economic, cultural and environmental interconnections that it describes are powerful and controversial. But what does it really mean?

Ever since Pythagoras first imagined the world as a sphere revolving around the sun, our planet has been shrinking. This book covers globalization from all angles: from 15th-century explorations to the rise of the multi-national corporation; from the Great Wall of China to the birth of the football World Cup. Opening the lid on the complex economics behind the controversies, MacGillivray gives equal play to technology and culture, politics and war.

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