Ars mathematica:
technica q&a: eugene kaplan (sensuous seas)
technica q&a: joseph turow (niche envy)
springer yellow sale
isepp lecture series
geek logik event
what we believe but cannot prove
history of science
new arrivals
doug brown's factoid
bestsellers

October is a flurry of activity here at Powell's Technical Books. Art Institute students buzz in, smelling of graphite sticks and rain. The regulars are already poring over the Springer Yellow Sale, and with great relief, we are able to wear scarves to work for the first time in months. Our necks feel naked without them.

TECHNICA Q&A: EUGENE KAPLAN
A reviewer calls author Eugene Kaplan "part Indiana Jones, part Richard Feynman and part Woody Allen." Sensuous Seas is Kaplan's ninth book, and after more than fifty years as a marine biologist, Kaplan still has many delightful stories and thoughtful observations on marine life. Sensuous Seas is full of creatures that slime, snot, and ooze viscous fluids (and have pretty interesting sex lives, too). Kaplan presents elemental biological concepts in entertaining, amusing prose that will delight armchair biologists. After all, how can you resist a book with chapters like "A Peek into the Anus of a Sea Cucumber"? Of course, you can't. Find out more and save 30% on Sensuous Seas.

TECHNICA Q&A: JOSEPH TUROW
Over the past ten years or so, we have grown increasingly accustomed to heavy marketing online. Certain websites remember us by name, and more importantly, know our consumer habits and demographics. And we've found ways to circumvent these advertising tactics with spam blockers and TiVo. Credit card companies know us better than ourselves, and even shopping at the grocery store these days is a lesson in Big Brother marketing. How did we get to such an adversarial position with our media? Author Joseph Turow, whom the New York Times calls "the reigning academic expert on media fragmentation," examines this uneasy relationship in his newest book, Niche Envy, which is 30% off for a limited time.

The day before Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles spooked the nation with his radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. Welles adapted H. G. Wells's novel into a radioplay, and it was performed by Mercury Theatre. Many people tuned in to this program in midstream, missing Orson Welles's disclaimer that this was a fictional story. At the time, Mercury Theater on the Air was a small cultural radio program — something like This American Life today — and many people heard the War of the Worlds broadcast while turning the dial to other stations. Fittingly, NPR recreated this radio show in 1988 (Terry Gross and Scott Simon were in it!) and won a Grammy.

SPRINGER YELLOW SALE
October brings students and math geeks to the Tech store, as it's the kick-off month for our famous Springer Yellow Sale, in which the crème de la crème of Springer's mathematics books are heavily discounted — up to 60%! — for you and your growing library. Isn't now a good time to replace your worn, old copy of Serge Lang's Complex Analysis for a freshly minted and discounted one? Sure it is.

ISEPP LECTURE SERIES
The highly anticipated ISEPP Lecture Series starts off with a bang this year. On Thursday, October 19, Dr. William Saturno presents his lecture "Of Creation and Kings: Illustrating Mayan Origins" at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall at 7 p.m. Dr. Saturno, a professor of anthropology at the University of New Hampshire, literally stumbled into the most important discovery of his career. He was in northeastern Guatemala exploring the Mayan ruins. To escape the tropical heat, Dr. Saturno slipped into a tunnel that had been dug by looters. When he aimed his flashlight on an interior wall, he was shocked to see an ancient Mayan mural in remarkably good condition, dating to about 150 AD. This is one of the most compelling discoveries in Mayan archaeology in years. To hear more about this fascinating story and its impact on Mayan art history, come see Dr. Saturno's lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Technica subscribers get 50% off the ticket price by clicking here.

October 7 is the birthday of mathematician Niels Bohr, who won the 1922 Nobel Prize for Physics with his work on quantum mechanics. He worked on the Los Alamos Project in the 1940s, and the element bohrium (atomic number 107) was named after him.

GEEK LOGIK EVENT
Be sure to come to the Tech store early to get a seat for Garth Sundem's reading for his new book, Geek Logic: Fifty Foolproof Equations for Everyday Life, on Wednesday, November 8, at 7 p.m. Sundem uses the basics of algebra to "take the guesswork out of life." Should you get a tattoo? How many beers should you drink at the company picnic? Algebra equations answer your nagging questions about love and romance, career and finance, and even the most mundane quandaries. But the real kicker is that these equations work, according to the variables you provide. Don't miss this fun event!

WHAT WE BELIEVE BUT CANNOT PROVE
Science is supposed to be an exact art, using logic, hypotheses, testing, and the scientific method to prove that a scientist's theory is factual. But then, where does the unprovable fall into this rationale? What do you believe to be true even though you can't prove it? Editor John Brockman asked this question to over a hundred of the world's "leading thinkers," and the results are collected in this new book. Scientists, professors, and authors such as Howard Rheingold, Lawrence Krauss, Alison Gopnik, Ian McEwan, and Clifford Pickover all contribute. All of the answers are interesting, but perhaps the most succinct — and sobering — is Bruce Sterling's: "We're in for climatic mayhem."

HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Frank Lloyd Wright's last major architectural work, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, opened in New York City to great crowds on October 21, 1959. Today it's an architectural icon, but when it opened, critics scoffed, saying that no one would ever look at art by walking up a circular ramp. One can't help but wonder what Jackson Pollock and the rest of the gang at the Cedar Bar thought of it.

NEW ARRIVALS
Steve Wozniak's highly anticipated autobiography, iWoz, is now out! Did you know that he's a Freemason? Now you do. Michael Largo's new book, Final Exits, is an exhaustive encyclopedia of the ways that humans expire in this world. The Backyard Lumberjack, by Frank Philbrick, gives sage advice to men (and women) who want to learn how to cut a cord of wood in the best, safest way possible. And for those of you who are itching to show off your crafty side with a blowtorch, check out Karen Ruth's Artisan Welding Projects: Twenty-Five Decorative Projects for Hobby Welders.

DOUG BROWN'S FACTOID
Portland is situated in the center of a fairly recent volcanic landscape.  There are at least 32 volcanoes in the greater Portland area.  The two most well known are Mt. Tabor and Rocky Butte.  All of these volcanoes were created between 2.7 million and 500,000 years before present, which is just a geological blink ago.  The lavas that gave rise to them are known as the Boring lavas; they aren't named because of their interest level, but because a main source was located near the present-day town of Boring.  Boring itself was named after local resident W. H. Boring; history does not record whether he was named because of his interest level.

TECH BESTSELLERS
1. Javascript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan (Computer Languages)
2. The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil (Philosophy of Science)
3. Beautiful Evidence by Edward R. Tufte (Graphics)
4. Pocket Reference by Thomas J. Glover (Science Reference)
5. Objects First with Java by David J. Barnes (Computer Languages)
6. Verilog HDL by Samir Palnitkar (Electricity)
7. Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz (Computer Languages)
8. Mini House by Alejandro Bahamon (Home Construction)
9. Office 2003 All-In-One Reference for Dummies by Peter Weverka (Windows)
10. Modern Operating Systems by Andrew S. Tanenbaum (Software Engineering)

Technica
By Carole

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