Critical Review of The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis Essay Example

Critical Review of The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis Paper The book titled The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis is one of the best of its genre. It is not often that biographies are written in the form of fiction. The author, having adopted the form of novel for this work, captures the essence of the character of Evariste Galois, the brilliant young French Mathematician whose life was cut short at the tender age of 21. The author carries the extra burden of using a first person narrative in the novel, whereby his imagination tries to capture the psyche and style of Galois. Though literary license would smudge some of the facts about the subject, it succeeds in showcasing the essential qualities of Galois’ personality and achievements. For a project such as this, the lack of abundant primary resources can be an advantage. Contrary to confining the author with established facts about the subject and the backdrop, it releases the author to fill up the blanks using creative imagination. And Persinis uses his creative talent to not jus t construct a plot or story, but to draw the reader further into the consciousness of the subject. As one reads through the novel, an impression of Galois as a revolutionary youth who had problems accepting the mores of his time becomes clear. That is why he got involved in student politics in his early teens. The same revolutionary zeal seen in his short political life was also seen in his mathematical life, where his papers have advanced the cause of mathematics greatly. The mathematical achievements of Evariste Galois can be summed up this way: He was the the inventor of the notion of a finite group. More importantly, he applied his new group theory to an unsolved problem of his time by giving â€Å"a necessary and sufficient group-theoretic condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals†. Evariste Galois lived between 1811 and 1832, a period when French society was under rapid transformation. The post-Napoleonic France was in political ferment and young students like Galois were its chief participants. Unfortunately, Galois’ political stances would antagon ize the King and the educational establishment. As a result, he would be denied enrollment in the leading institutions of the day. We also learn from the novel that the outstanding genius of Galois was accompanied by his tendency to be arrogant. Describing the final days of Galois’ life, the author suggests that the fatal duel he gets involved in could have been avoided had he exercised prudence. In what is a case of tragic irony, only when Galois becomes aware of his impending death does his creative output reach its highest expression. For example, in the final days before his fatal duel with his friend-turned-foe, Galois writes down his most significant mathematical discoveries in his letters to friends and other well wishers. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Review of The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Review of The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Review of The French Mathematician by Tom Petsinis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Students of history, culture and mathematics can all find this book of interest. This book will also be a valuable resource for students of French history and culture. When compared to details pertaining to Galois’ personal life and personal thoughts, Petsinis has not fictionalized aspects of the social and political milieu. As a result, the description of social and political life in early nineteenth century France is accurately documented. The emphasis on mathematics is not very strong for reasons discussed earlier. Still, Petsinis manages to convey the key discoveries of Galois to the extent that a novel form would allow. The fact that Petsinis is a trained mathematician himself has helped the project greatly. If one has to pick flaws in the novel, it would be the liberties taken by the author in presenting the protagonist’s thought processes. There is no claim made by Petsinis about adherence to fact and hence the reader should not take them to be authentic. At different passages in the book, when Petsinis quotes Galois, one can see that the latter speaks a lyrical, florid style of prose. Passages like these look inauthentic and artificial for their style, substance and richness seem too grand for the character of Galois. So it is fair to say that the author has let his personal vision of life and his ways of thinking to get into the character of Evariste Galois. To this extent, the characterization of Galois comes across as artificial and trumped up. Furthermore, the fashion in which the character of Galois articulates his thoughts and ideas comes across as odd for a teenage boy, however brilliant he might have been. For one thing, the maturity and worldly wisdom shown by Galois s imply does not fit his image as a brash but gifted teenager. For reasons like this, it is fair to say that at places in the novel the biographer overpowers his subject. The following monologue illustrates this point: â€Å"My heart was now beating faster than usual. No longer Evariste Galois, I am impersonal, at one with the eternal mind responsible for mathematics, impelled forward to discover the mystery at the center of the labyrinth. But just as the solution is within reach, I am distracted by the scent of chamomile.† (The French Mathematician, 1997) Beside the flaw pointed above, the novel is quite unique in that it mixes the two distant concepts of mathematics and politics through the life of Evariste Galois. And similarly, the mixing of biography and fiction forms is also quite rare. For example, plenty of biographies have been written about eminent mathematicians, which elaborately account their mathematical accomplishments and their personal struggles. Indeed, barring individual quirks and idiosyncrasies, most mathematicians fall within the stereotype of living regimented, organized and aloof lives by normal standards. But Tom Petsinis employs the facts surrounding the colorful but brief life of Evariste Galois in sculpting out a novel that is one of a kind. And it is only a matter of time before The French Mathematician is adapted to the celluloid form. Indeed, the period in which the novel is set, the eccentricity of the characters, the political circumstances of the time, etc, make it a perfect material for cinema. While one would think that a third person narrative would be appropriate for a biography of this kind, the first person view employed by the author is also understandable. For example, the mind of any teenager, especially one gifted with prodigious talent and arrogance is bound to be in a constant state of flux and contradiction. In this context, the first person narrative is the best option to capture these ambiguities, as the following passage shows: â€Å"Over the past year dark feelings have been stirring within me, not only hatred of those around me, but a frustrated desire for something I cannot define, an ambition without a goal, a sense of leaving childhood and moving toward a distant, barely audible calling, which sometimes sounds like nothing more than a faint echo of my own voice, and other times a voice I have never heard before, calling compellingly in a language I do not fully understand. I know I am destined for something, though I do not know exactly what.† (The French Mathematician, 1997) Also, by the time the book was first published in 1997, the stature of Galois and the implications of his theories have already established themselves in the annals of modern science. But these subsequent events cannot be accommodated into the narrative, for they were written in first person and set in early nineteenth century. If anything, during Galois’ time there was uncertainty as to the validity and significance of his theories. So the aura surrounding Galois that was earned posthumously cannot be fully articulated by the author. But Petsinis overcomes this challenge by stating Galois’ vision of politics and mathematics in the future. This is done in such a way that the growing legacy of Galois is contained within his express vision, which is neatly captured by the author in the novel. Even discounting for the factual digressions indulged by Petsinis, the final outcome is still satisfactory so as to classify the book a biography. Finally, while Galois is obviously the hero of the novel, it doesn’t follow that the author has abandoned a critical treatment of his subject. Indeed, the vices as much as the virtues of the young hero are dwelled upon, showing that the young French mathematician is all too human, if not being ordinary in certain respects. Given that Galois’ contribution to mathematics has been so profound and that his creative life was nipped in the bud, one wonders how mathematics would have been transformed had he lived till old age. In this sense, the book manages to showcase both the heroic and the tragic aspects of the life of Evariste Galois. The political and creative heroism of the young genius might appear to be the focal point of the book but what is poignant are the glories that weren’t to be. The further theories that Galois could have developed, the inspirational political leader that he promised to be, etc are the thoughts with which the book ends.

Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging

Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging By Michael Ali recently gave us five reasons why blogging improves your writing, and I dont disagree with any of them. What ruined my writing ability (temporarily, I hope) was not the chance to write regularly or to get instant feedback. So what ruined it? Did I get worse the more I practiced? Can that even happen? Sports coaches and music teachers will tell you that it can if you practice doing it wrong instead of doing it right. If you repeatedly practice bad habits, they will become ingrained habits. Email and instant messaging may have taught people how to type better, but I dont think its teaching them to write better. What ruined my writing ability was placing money and productivity higher than integrity and honor. I told myself, This assignment pays half of what I need to earn per hour; therefore, I will only spend half an hour on it. In retrospect, I realized that I was gaining income, but losing self-respect. I was quickly lowering my standards to meet my financial goals, but found that I couldnt raise them back again so easily. In essence, I was training myself to write sloppily. Disclaimer: Daily Writing Tips is a good example of a blog that attracts lovers of writing and pays them well. Ive done some of my best work here. Perhaps Ive done even better writing on my personal blog for which I receive no money at all. There is an economic aspect to writing professionally, of course, but I found that it also involves economics that are not monetary. The British economist E.F. Schumacher called this meta-economics. A job working with hazardous chemicals may earn you a higher salary, but may cost you in quality of life. Writing only for the money, even when my heart wasnt in it, paid most of the bills. But meeting a word count without meeting my personal standards, in effect, lowered my personal standards. I almost forgot what they were. I found out what had happened to me when I was offered a secure job in the marketing department at a local university. I took it and put my freelance writing career on hold. My freelance writing experience was one reason why I was hired. Yet when I began writing documentation for my new boss, he was unenthusiastic about using it. The problem wasnt my style or grammar or punctuation. He only told me, Ive found that when you really understand something, you can explain it clearly. Professional blogging, for low pay and not for love, hadnt taught me to explain things clearly. We expect bloggers to entertain us more than to inform us. When we expect them to inform us, we dont expect complete information. Theres nothing wrong with that. Ive found, however, that you advance by exceeding peoples expectations, not simply meeting them. And you wont advance as a writer when you dont meet your own expectations, especially when you tell yourself that you dont need to. To be fair, I was not a typical blogger. I was a professional blogger, trying to support my family and pay a mortgage in the US economy. When I complained mildly to one of my editors about my low pay scale, he wisely pointed out that my rate was typical for the industry. Even more wisely, he told me that most of my fellow writers were blogging because they loved their subject, not because they were depending on an extra few dollars to pay the mortgage. The danger Im warning against is not confined to the world of professional blogging. Everyone who writes for the money but doesnt get much of it is tempted to cut corners. Writing keyword-rich SEO copy is perhaps even more dangerous for aspiring writers. At least blogs have to appeal to human beings. That isnt a requirement for SEO copy. Every time you tell yourself, I can dash off this post; I dont need to devote any time or thought to it, you make it easier to do it the next time and the next time. Its quite easy to lose your critical ear and lower your standards if you deliberately do it over and over. Youre never writing only for others. Youre always writing for yourself too. Youre never dealing only with money. Youre also dealing with your ability and integrity. Your writing skills are like the assets of a bank account. You can add to your assets by doing your best work, all the time, and always raising the bar. You can lose assets as a writer when you dont. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their SynonymsSit vs. Set

A Different Conception of an Ideal Government in the Case of a Hobbess Research Paper

A Different Conception of an Ideal Government in the Case of a Hobbess Civil Society - Research Paper Example Hobbes acknowledges the value of freedom or liberty as something that cannot be gotten in nature but only possible in civil society. However, the insufficiency with this definition is well exemplified when discussing the importance of positive or civil liberty that exists in any civil society as espoused by Rousseau. Rousseau argues that idea Hobbes idea creates negative liberty or civil society that is typified by ‘unlawful chains’ that compels people to conform to a system they actually do not agree with. Another criticism against Hobbes's state of nature relates to the existence of man as pre-social. Rousseau wonders how a man would be considered pre-social yet in the state of nature, most qualities attributed to him are social in nature. Rousseau describes the aspect of pride as one that can only take place in a social environment. It must be understood, nonetheless, that both of these two scholars base their arguments on men’s qualities that are interpersonal in nature. According to Rousseau, it is misleading when Hobbes claims that the life of man is solitary and yet he has inferred used the concept of neighbourliness where people are not likely to get satisfied with resources at their disposal, because they are envious about what their neighbours have. Hobbes supports a government that is headed by a ruler or king. In this case, people would confide their power or sovereignty in the hands of kings as a way of being more resolute and consistent in exercising political authority. Furthermore, Hobbes indicates that once the people have surrendered their absolute power to their ruler or king, they do not have any right to rebel against his wishes.