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From the Literary Journal: "Whenever mathematicians or scientists read a newspaper or magazine article, they have a tendency mentally to compose a letter to the editor taking issue with the conclusions or mode of presentation. Most are content to leave these letters unsent, but not Paulos. He writes not only letters but also op-ed articles in his continuing effort to combat the innumeracy of the general public. In this book, he presents a collection of these compositions, covering almost every type of feature that might appear in your daily paper, from the front page to the advertisements. Some of these pieces are new, and some have appeared elsewhere. They are mathematically undemanding, humorous, and instructive. Hopefully, the reader will learn from them to apply a dose of mathematical common sense when reading the papers rather than automatically accepting everything that appears."

Well, we seem to have run out of January, so our January meeting will happen in February.

The book will be A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, the classic account of the sinking of the Titanic.

We'll be meeting at the Lincoln-Belmont branch of the Chicago Public Library in West Lakeview. The library is a few blocks from the Southport brown line stop (the Paulina stop is closed), and accessible from the Belmont, Ashland, and Lincoln buses. The library has a parking lot, and street parking in the neighborhood is widely available.

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch

Google Maps: 1659 W. Melrose

Hi everyone!

For our next book, let's learn more about the professionals that try to keep us healthy.

"Gently dismantling the myth of medical infallibility, Dr. Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science is essential reading for anyone involved in medicine--on either end of the stethoscope. Medical professionals make mistakes, learn on the job, and improvise much of their technique and self-confidence. Gawande's tales are humane and passionate reminders that doctors are people, too. His prose is thoughtful and deeply engaging, shifting from sometimes painful stories of suffering patients (including his own child) to intriguing suggestions for improving medicine with the same care he expresses in the surgical theater." - Amazon.com

For September, our book will be:

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
by Atul Gawande

Complications

We'll be meeting at the Lincoln-Belmont branch of the Chicago Public Library in West Lakeview. The library is a few blocks walk from the Southport brown line stop (the Paulina stop is closed) and accessible from the Belmont, Ashland, and Lincoln buses. The library has a parking lot and street parking in the neighborhood is widely available.

* Note that the library is just down the street from the Caribou Cafe where we've had meetings in the past.

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch (MAP)

Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. Hope to see lots of you there!

-MikeE

Hi everyone!

After our philosophical discussions last event, let's come back down to earth (and close to home) and get to know two boys growing up in poverty on Chicago's West Side.

"There Are No Children Here, the true story of brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, ages 11 and 9 at the start, brings home the horror of trying to make it in a violence-ridden public housing project. The boys live in a gang-plagued war zone on Chicago's West Side, literally learning how to dodge bullets the way kids in the suburbs learn to chase baseballs... This book humanizes the problem of inner-city pathology, makes readers care about Lafeyette and Pharoah more than they may expect to, and offers a sliver of hope buried deep within a world of chaos." - Amazon.com

"Alex Kotlowitz joins the ranks of the important few writers on the subject of urban poverty." - Chicago Tribune

For April, our book will be:

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America
by Alex Kotlowitz

There Are No Children Here

We'll be meeting at the Lincoln-Belmont branch of the Chicago Public Library in West Lakeview. The library is down the street from the Paulina brown line stop and accessible from the Belmont, Ashland, and Lincoln buses. The library has a parking lot and street parking in the neighborhood is widely available.

* Note that the library is just down the street from the Caribou Cafe where we've had meetings in the past.

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch (MAP)

Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. Hope to see lots of you there!

-MikeE

Hi everyone!

As the holiday season approaches, it seems fitting we should read a book about food...

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan writes about how our food is grown -- what it is, in fact, that we are eating. The book has three sections, each one culminating in a meal:

- Industrial Farming (cheesburger and fries from McDonald's)

- Organic Food (chicken and vegetables from Whole Foods and a sustainable farm)

- Hunting & Gathering (mushrooms and pork, foraged from the wild)

"Pollan approaches his mission not as an activist but as a naturalist: "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." All food, he points out, originates with plants, animals and fungi. "ven the deathless Twinkie is constructed out of... well, precisely what I don't know offhand, but ultimately some sort of formerly living creature, i.e., a species. We haven't yet begun to synthesize our foods from petroleum, at least not directly."Pollan's narrative strategy is simple: he traces four meals back to their ur-species. " - Publisher's Weekly

For December, our book will be:

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilema

We'll be meeting at the Lincoln-Belmont branch of the Chicago Public Library in West Lakeview. The library is down the street from the Paulina brown line stop and accessible from the Belmont, Ashland, and Lincoln buses. The library has a parking lot and street parking in the neighborhood is widely available.

* Note that the library is just down the street from the Caribou Cafe where we've had meetings in the past.

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch

Chicago Public Library: Lincoln-Belmont Branch (MAP)

Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. Hope to see lots of you there!

-MikeE