I try to keep non-mathematical ruminations to a minimum on this blog, but today I will indulge a bit. I’m still struggling with my review project, and I don’t really understand why. Being away from home and having the extra responsibilities of house sitting is a stressor. Yet I feel as if I’ve been more productive in the past in the face of the same amount of mental drag. My feeling that I should be coping better is now becoming its own source of stress, which I realize is not productive.
At any rate, today I read more of Infinite Powers. I’m enjoying Strogatz’s in-depth exposition of a topic. His treatments of the many topics in The Joy of X were (by necessity) shallower than I would have liked. The latest protagonists of the tale are Fermat and Descartes, though the portrait of the latter is unflattering.
I hope your patience lasts until this rough weather passes.
I’ve had quite a bit of practice, at least.