Indiscrete Thoughts

Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read
Review: G-C Rota is truly an astonishing writer. His observations are precise and very phenomenological. I could not let go off his book once I started reading it. I truly enjoyed every line of it. It is indeed one of my favorite books.

Rating:
Summary: Collected wisdoms
Review: Great mathematicians and philosophers can clearly teach us mathematics and philosophy, but I've always thought they could offer more. As critical and itelligent observers, they can draw attention to unsolved problems. As individuals often privy to the greatest genius of their time, they can pass on the odd bits and pieces of wisdom they inevitably pick up, but can't easily fit into any coherent system.

In this book, Gian-Carlo Rota does what I wish more accomplished figures would do: he writes down a motley asortment of wisdoms he collected throughout his life along with a number of pressing questions he never saw answered. True, there is no one overarching theme in his thoughts, nor does he defend any one particular thesis, but few of us have ever synthesized our thoughts into a coherent system.

Like any good educator, Rota doesn't patronize, nor does he dwell on personal reminiscences. "Indiscrete Thoughts" is his way of exiting the scene, leaving behind all the unfinished business of his day for the next generation of mathematicians and philosophers to pick up.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read
Review: It appears that Gian-Carlo Rota straddled the boundary between mathematics and philosophy for quite a while before drifting over to the latter realm, where he focuses his energies, at least in this book, on the history and ontology of mathematics. As a devout phenomenologist, a dedicated follower of Heidegger and Husserl, he takes up arms against the established pieties of his fellow mathematicians: that mathematics is a formal system, or an abstract structure, or an orderly progression of theorems and proofs. Stuff and nonsense! sayeth Rota; mathematics is the whole fuzzy blob of whatever it is that mathematicians actually do when they're doing mathematics.

I couldn't disagree more. But I'm awed by the man's insights, and, even when his arguments seem riddled with holes, I want to stick with him. No, more than that: I want him here in the room with me so that I can alternately praise him and force him to see the truth.

My guess is that Rota's career as a philosopher is motivated in large part by an innate desire to debunk and a love of argumentation. He's an outrageous fellow and a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: Mathematicians exposed
Review: This book is a pleasure to read, whether or not you're interested in math or philosophy. It stands on the premise that when speaking or writing of science and scientists, we should acknowledge their fallibility and avoid myths. Rota believes the mythification of science and scientists is responsible for many of the flaws in education and science in general.

Accordingly, Rota attempts in this book to show us mathematicians behind the scenes. He exposes the prejudices, mannerisms and also the nice traits of giants such as John von Neumann, Stanislaw Ulam, Willi Feller, Norbert Wiener. His portraits are not based on dull facts, but on lively anecdotes, and you really get a sense of the people he describes. I wish professional biographers took note. Rota also speaks of mathematics and philosophy, again debunking myths and exposing clearly the underlying trends.

As a writer, Rota is fantastic. Through his brief sketches of people, places and events, a connected whole emerges. The clarity of his writing and thought, and his obvious pleasure with words, remind me of Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through it". A bit like poetry in prose.

Rating:
Summary: personal insight, and amusing observations
Review: `Funny stories about mathematicians!' An oxymoron, you might counter. Need I say that the title of the book is a pun. If you aren't from math, you might say that it is an inside joke. Pick up the book! If you are anything like me, you will not be able to put it down!



And I think you will not be disappointed; even if you might initially have misgivings.



The book is funny. If you don't believe me, give it a try, and judge for yourself. I had one of the best laughs of the year. The book is also unique in several ways; autobiographical in many ways, and written by an outstanding scientist; one with a rare talent for writing, for making observations about human nature, and for interpersonal skills. Had Rota not turned to math, he might well have become a novelist.



A number of the protagonists in the book are the famous math professors Rota encountered when he was an undergraduate in Princeton in the early fifties; that was also the period of another illustrious mathematician, John Nash [later to become a Nobel Laureate, and the subject of a bestseller, and a movie; `A Beautiful Mind'].



The stories I enjoyed the most in Rota's little book was those about Alonzo Church, a pioneer in logic; William Feller, one of the founders of modern probability theory; Solomon Lefschetz (of topology), to mention only some. But you will likely select your own favorites from Rota's illustrious gallery. Rota paints his subjects with a mix of colors: humor, respect, love, insight in the human soul, wisdom, and personal reflection. What is charming and amusing is to observe thru the eyes of the then young and impressionable undergraduate student Gian-Carlo Rota, that the famous scientists shared personal weaknesses, and failed human relationships, with the rest of us.

Reviewed by Palle Jorgensen, November, 2004.