Reading Hemingway is the perfect antidote to our hyper-sensitive times | American literature - The Telegraph

Follow on Twitter as @Stefan_Boscia

Stefan Boscia, The Telegraph says, Today marks the 120th birthday of the great Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway working on his book For Whom the Bell Tolls at the Sun Valley Lodge, Idaho, in December 1939
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Many pigeonhole 'Papa', as he was affectionately known, as little more than a hypermasculine alcoholic who was overly economical with his prose. Reading his novels, however, is to marvel at the unrivalled emotion and sense of adventure.

Although he chooses stereotypically macho settings – bullfighting, war, boxing, boozing – it is in the prose’s hinterland that his musings on love, tragedy and grief reveal his profound genius. And in these hyper-sensitive times, he still has much to teach us. I first read A Farewell to Arms aged 17 and in the subsequent nine years I have revisited him sporadically, always gaining more from the experience.

I would recommend his works, in particular, to my fellow Millennials. Hemingway's values – his appreciation of beauty in all its forms, intellectual curiosity and unquenchable desire to see the world – are sorely lacking in this era of risk-aversion and extreme wokeness...

Reading a novel like For Whom the Bell Tolls, for example, is an epic experience and a great lesson in the worth of sacrifice, stoicism and standing up for your beliefs regardless of circumstance. Can my generation really say that we aspire to these attitudes and principles? I believe the answer is too often a resounding “no”.

Hemingway’s protagonists give a master-class in dealing with life’s disappointments and heartbreak, and demonstrate the virtue of confronting tragedies steadfastly and reflecting on setbacks with an inquiring, open mind. The millennial tendency to explode with outraged indignation at the smallest offence  is an unhealthy response to life’s inevitable slights and misunderstandings and does not bode well for the future. By contrast, characters like Frederic Henry in A Farewell to Arms or Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises show how to live a balanced existence of quiet forbearance in the face of unimaginable trauma.
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Additional resources

Hemingway in the cabin of his boat Pilar, off the coast of Cuba, c. 1950
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Ernest Hemingway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Source: The Telegraph

Pi Approximation Day 2019: Fun Facts About The Mathematical Constant Pi For Every Numberphile Out There! | Festivals Events - LatestLY

Happy Pi Approximation Day!
July 22 is Pi Approximation Day. Also known as Casual Pi Day, the day is dedicated to the mathematical constant pi (π).
 
For the nerds and lover of mathematics, it is an important day today, the Pi Approximation Day. 

Pi Approximation Day
Photo: File Image

The Pi is denoted by the fraction 22/7 thus July 22 is marked as Pi Approximation Day. While Pi Day is marked annually on March 14 denoting the 3.14 calculation. The other approximate value is celebrated with Pi Approximation Day...

Pi Approximation Day celebrations are similar to Pi Day, since it is only a day that denotes the value of the mathematical constant. While some nerds may participate in remembering the idea of the pi value, others can just look at it as a reason to gorge on sweet pies!
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Related link 
Pi Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Source: LatestLY

Suggested Books of the Week 29, 2019 | Books - Helge Scherlund's eLearning News

Check out these books below by Dover Publications, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Photo: Storyblocks.com

The Geometry of René Descartes: with a Facsimile of the First Edition

The Geometry of René Descartes:
with a Facsimile of the First Edition

This is an unabridged republication of the definitive English translation of one of the very greatest classics of science. Originally published in 1637, it has been characterized as "the greatest single step ever made in the progress of the exact sciences" (John Stuart Mill); as a book which "remade geometry and made modern geometry possible" (Eric Temple Bell). It "revolutionized the entire conception of the object of mathematical science" (J. Hadamard).

With this volume Descartes founded modern analytical geometry. Reducing geometry to algebra and analysis and, conversely, showing that analysis may be translated into geometry, it opened the way for modern mathematics.
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Mathematics in Ancient Greece 

Mathematics in Ancient Greece

More than a history of mathematics, this lively book traces mathematical ideas and processes to their sources, stressing the methods used by the masters of the ancient world. Author Tobias Dantzig portrays the human story behind mathematics, showing how flashes of insight in the minds of certain gifted individuals helped mathematics take enormous forward strides. Dantzig demonstrates how the Greeks organized their precursors' melange of geometric maxims into an elegantly abstract deductive system. He also explains the ways in which some of the famous mathematical brainteasers of antiquity led to the development of whole new branches of mathematics.
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A Short Account of the History of Mathematics (eBook)

A Short Account of
History of Mathematics (eBook)

This is a new printing, the first inexpensive one, of one of the most honored histories of mathematics of all time. When the last revised edition appeared in 1908, it was hailed by mathematicians and laymen alike, and it remains one of the clearest, most authoritative, and most accurate works in the field. Mathematicians welcomed it as a lucid overview of the development of mathematics down through the centuries. Laymen welcomed it as a work which gave them an opportunity to understand the development of one of the most recondite and difficult of all intellectual endeavors, and the individual contributions of its great men.
In this standard work, Dr. Ball treats hundreds of figures and schools that have been instrumental in the development of mathematics from the Egyptians and Phoenicians to such giants of the 19th century as Grassman, Hermite, Galois, Lie, Riemann, and many others who established modern mathematics as we know it today.
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Foucault: A Very Short Introduction 

Foucault:  
A Very Short Introduction

Foucault is one of those rare philosophers who has become a cult figure. From aesthetics to the penal system; from madness and civilisation to avant-garde literature, he rejected old models of thinking and replaced them with versions that are still debated today. This book introduces and explores aspects of his life, work, and thought.

• Provides a wide-ranging but non-systematic treatment of some highlights of Foucault's life and thought
• New edition includes feminist criticisms of Foucault's apparently sexist treatment of the Jouy case
• Includes a new chapter offering a unified overview of the Collège de France lectures, now a major focus of interest in Foucault
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over ten million copies sold worldwide

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Socrates: A Very Short Introduction 

Socrates: A Very Short Introduction

Christopher Taylor introduces the life and philosophy of Socrates, whose work has played a central role in shaping Western philosophical thinking for centuries. Examining what we can deduce about Socrates from the writings of his contemporaries (as he himself left none), Taylor traces the reception and influence of his thought to the modern day.

• Introduces the life and philosophy of Socrates, whose work has played a central role in shaping Western philosophical thinking for centuries
• Includes a new chapter analysing the reception and influence of Socrates in 19th and 20th century philosophical thought
• New edition includes an extensively updated bibliography
• Examines what we can deduce about Socrates from the writings of his contemporaries (as he himself left none)
• Traces the reception and influence of his thought to the modern day
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over ten million copies sold worldwide

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Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

Michael Beaney introduces analytic philosophy by exploring some of the key ideas of Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Susan Stebbing. He also considers how analytic philosophy has developed and spread to become the dominant philosophical tradition across the world.

• Offers a clear, accessible introduction to analytic philosophy, introducing some of the key ideas of five of its main founders
• Illustrates the fruitfulness and conceptual creativity of analytic philosophy
• Explores the spread of analytic philosophy to become the dominant philosophical tradition across the world
• Discusses the criticisms of analytic philosophy
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over eight million copies sold worldwide

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Engaging Boys in Active Literacy - Evidence and Practice

Engaging Boys in Active LiteracyEvidence and Practice

Too many boys do not like to read, are choosing not to read, and are suffering academically as a result. All concerned adults need to redouble their efforts to ensure that boys who bring the greatest challenges to our classrooms and schools receive responsive literacy texts and practices to increase their chances for academic, personal, and occupational success...

The descriptions of how teachers have used engaging texts and practices to help boys overcome low literacy engagement and skill in order to stay on course as readers and writers are highly informative and practical as models of best practice.

• Strikes an appropriate balance between research and practice
• Geared towards readers from both scholarly and practical backgrounds
• Includes a strong evidence-base for several key factors associated with boys' literacy development
• Presents synopses of boys from a range of backgrounds and abilities

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What Is Intelligence? - Beyond the Flynn Effect 

What Is Intelligence?
Beyond the Flynn Effect

The 'Flynn effect' refers to the massive increase in IQ test scores over the course of the twentieth century. Does it mean that each generation is more intelligent than the last? Does it suggest how each of us can enhance our own intelligence?...

A fascinating book that bridges the gulf separating our minds from those of our ancestors a century ago, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of human intelligence.

• Expanded paperback edition of James R. Flynn's acclaimed What Is Intelligence, which has sold over 6,500 copies world-wide
• The style is simple and direct, yet even experts will find their understanding of intelligence enhanced
• Boxes and figures make IQ trends easy to comprehend

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Foundations of Affective Social Learning - Conceptualizing the Social Transmission of Value

Foundations of Affective Social Learning
 Conceptualizing the Social Transmission of Value

Written by experts in comparative, developmental, social, cognitive and cultural psychology, this book introduces the novel concept of affective social learning to help explain why what matters to us, matters to us...

As such, affective social learning conceptualises the transmission of value from a given culture to a given person and reveals why the things that are so important to us can be of no consequence at all to others.

• Introduces the new concept of affective social learning to offer a clear framework for the social transmission of values
• Provides different views and arguments about the topic and about learning from emotions more generally, both ontogenetically and phylogenetically
• Informs discussions about how much of our world can be learned individually and how much must be learned socially and culturally through emotions

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Read 📚books and drink ☕️coffee! 

Source: Dover Publications, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

5 books not to miss: 'Lady in the Lake,' 'Crisis in the Red Zone,' 'Helpline' | Books - USA TODAY

In search of something good to read?

“Lady in the Lake,” by Laura Lippman.
Photo: William Morrow

USA TODAY's Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases.
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Source: USA TODAY 

7 books to pick up to catch up on the story of Apollo 11 | Books - The Verge

Andrew Liptak, Weekend Editor for The Verge notes, A space race reading list.

Photo: Andrew Liptak / The Verge

The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing is upon us, and in that time, there has been plenty of ink spilled about the implications, technical specifications, individuals, and historical significance of the mission. As with any big anniversary, publishers have seized the moment to release an entire library’s worth of new material about the history of the Apollo program, and there are a number of new books to check out if you’re interested in learning more about the mission.

These books cover a wide range of topics related to the mission: the actual Apollo 11 landing itself, but also the efforts of the thousands of engineers, scientists, administrators, and politicians who played a role.

Here are a bunch more to add to your reading list.

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Recommended Reading

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins narrates an adorable Google Doodle by Meghan Bartels, science journalist based in New York City.

Source: The Verge 

New Hampshire’s independent bookstores turn a new page | Retail & Tourism - New Hampshire Business Review

Community of readers helps local sellers mount a recovery in the shadow of Amazon by Michael Kitch.

“Every time there is a new innovation, they predict the death of the book,” said Michael Hermann, the owner of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. “But the book is a perfect technology. Like the shark, it hasn’t changed and continues to thrive.”

In fact, the resilience of the printed book, paired with the business savvy of booksellers, have enabled independent bookstores to weather the storms brought by big-box retailers and the digital revolution and stage a resurgence that has restored and enhanced their place in downtown retailing across the country and the state...

‘A real impact’
Toadstool Books, the largest independent store in the state, first opened in Peterborough in 1972 and moved to the empty A&P in 1992, more than quadrupling its space. Stores in Keene and Milford were added in 1983 and 1989. Owner Willard Williams recalled that his first competitors — B. Dalton’s and Waldenbooks — appeared in the 1980s. Operating in shopping centers and strip malls, he said, both drew customers who otherwise might not enter a bookstore, which for some carried an elitist flavor. “It wasn’t so scary to walk into a bookstore anymore,” he said. “They became more welcoming, more comfortable.”

Williams said competition stiffened when Borders gained a presence in Keene through its acquisition of Waldenbooks in 1987. Unlike the smaller chains, he said that the megastores — Borders and Barnes & Noble — carried a diverse stock akin to that of independent bookstores, but with wider range and greater quantity. “Borders had a real impact,” he said.

However, as the digital revolution gathered pace, the impact of Amazon rattled booksellers large and small.
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Source: New Hampshire Business Review

12 Inspirational Books That Will Motivated You Enough to ~Actually~ Finish Them | Books - Cosmopolitan.com

Summer is the perfect time to catch up on all that reading you put off this winter. (Don’t act like you haven’t been re-reading the same paragraph for the last three months.) by Leah Thomas, NYC-based freelance writer.

Photo: Sanchi Oberoi

Whether you’re starting a book club, can no longer afford your favorite streaming subscription, or you’re simply tired of lying when people ask about the last book you read and the first thing that comes to mind is a viral Twitter thread, it’s probably time to replace your daily hour of The Office to some personal time with an inspiring read. From Tina Fey’s Bossypants to Michelle Obama’s memoir, check out these 12 inspirational books that will have you motivated enough to actually finish them. 
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Source: Cosmopolitan.com

11 New Books We Recommend This Week | Book Review - New York Times

Follow on Twitter as @GregoryCowles

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times by Gregory Cowles, Senior Editor, Books. 

What is going on in America? Some mornings you look at the news and immediately have to look away again, as if current events were the sun, so incendiary they could melt your eyeballs. A friend at work jokes that we on the Books desk have two basic coping strategies: (1) Things are terrible. Read all about it! (2) Things are terrible. Escape!

This week our recommended titles draw from both playbooks, along with a sense of historical perspective. On the “read all about it” side, there’s Tim Alberta’s “American Carnage,” an eyes-wide-open analysis of right-wing populism and its tactics, and Michael Bennet’s “The Land of Flickering Lights,” a campaign manifesto by the Colorado senator and Democratic presidential candidate. On the escape side, there’s the biography of an elite running coach (written by The Times’s Matthew Futterman) and the graphic novel “Clyde Fans,” Seth’s multigenerational epic about a family of Toronto salespeople. For history, there’s a family memoir of the Red scare; a study of Turkey’s attacks on its Christian populations; and an autobiography by the former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who died this week at the age of 99. Those books join fiction and poetry from Jennifer Weiner, Nicole Dennis-Benn and Ilya Kaminsky, along with Colson Whitehead’s much-anticipated new novel, “The Nickel Boys,” about a brutal reform school based on a true-life institution. Is that escapism? History? Cold, hard reality? It’s complicated — which is to say, it’s literature — and it’s well worth your time.

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Source: New York Times  

Applying devops in data science and machine learning | Machine Learning - InfoWorld

Having data scientists collaborate with devops and engineers leads to better business outcomes, but understanding their different requirements is key, summarizes Isaac Sacolick, Contributing Editor.

Photo: Metamorworks / Getty Images

Data scientists have some practices and needs in common with software developers. Both data scientists and software engineers plan, architect, code, iterate, test, and deploy code to achieve their goals. For software developers this often means custom coding applications and microservices; data scientists implement data integrations with dataops, make predictions through analytical models, and create dashboards to help end users navigate results.

Devops engineers looking to automate and collaborate with operational engineers should expand their scope and also provide services to data scientists as part of their charter...

Start with the data scientist experience
Like application developers, data scientists are most interested in solving problems, are very involved in configuring their tools, and often have less interest in configuring infrastructure. But unlike software developers, data scientists may not have the same experience and background to fully configure their development workflows. This presents an opportunity for devops engineers to treat data scientists as customers, help define their requirements, and take ownership in delivering solutions.
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Source: InfoWorld

If you can identify what’s in these images, you’re smarter than AI | Artificial Intelligence - The Verge

James Vincent, cover machines with brains for The Verge, despite being a human without one reports, Researchers collect confusing images to expose the weak spots in AI vision.

From top to bottom and left to right, these images are misidentified as “digital clock,” “lighthouse,” “organ”, “syringe,” “toucan,” “Persian cat.”

Computer vision has improved massively in recent years, but it’s still capable of making serious errors. So much so that there’s a whole field of research dedicated to studying pictures that are routinely misidentified by AI, known as “adversarial images.” Think of them as optical illusions for computers. While you see a cat up a tree, the AI sees a squirrel.

There’s a great need to study these images. As we put machine vision systems at the heart of new technology like AI security cameras and self driving cars, we’re trusting that computers see the world the same way we do. Adversarial images prove that they don’t.

But while a lot attention in this field is focused on pictures that have been specifically designed to fool AI (like this 3D printed turtle which Google’s algorithms mistakes for a gun), these sorts of confusing visuals occur naturally as well. This category of images is, if anything, more worrying, as it shows that vision systems can make unforced errors...

Some research suggests that rather than looking at images holistically, considering the overall shape and content, algorithms focus in on specific textures and detail. The findings presented in this dataset seem to support this interpretation, when, for example, pictures that show clear shadows on a brightly-lit surface are misidentified as sundials. AI is essentially missing the wood for the trees. 

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Source: The Verge