Consider the Ant

December 23rd, 2016

Forget the Palmer Worm

Since I wrote about my literature-reading habits today, I might as well follow up with some info on my technical reading.

It will sound stupid to a person who isn’t mathematically or technically inclined, but there is a special kind of pleasure associated with reading a well-written text or how-to book for STEM people. Believe it or not, there are texts which could actually be described as “beloved.” Herbert Goldstein’s Classical Mechanics and Morse and Feshbach’s Mathematical Methods of Theoretical Physics come to mind. It’s very hard to write a good STEM book, so when someone does it right, you almost feel like putting the book in bed next to you, like a little boy curling up with a new toy fire engine.

When I came to Miami from Texas, I had a lot of technical books, and I had to store them. I didn’t know carpenter ants ate paper. After several years, I checked on the books, and a lot of them were ruined. I had lost Richard Feynman’s autobiographical books, two neat quantum mechanics books by someone named Cohen-Tannoudji, Amit Goswami’s Quantum Mechanics, and a number of other books I liked. I lost my Japanese edition of Krazy Kat, which I treasured.

I had a copy of Mathematical Methods of Physics, by Mathews and Walker. I had bought it new. The bugs left most of it alone, but they ate a big hole in the spine, and it bothered me every time I looked at it. I felt so bad about it, I looked around online for a replacement, even though I didn’t need the book. If you check prices for new copies, you will understand why I didn’t buy one. They are not cheap.

This week I started Googling again. I found someone selling a new copy for well under the market price, and I decided to take a chance. It’s on the UPS truck right now, on its way here. I hope it’s really a new copy.

I also replaced some Schaum outlines. These things are priceless for STEM students. Textbooks tend to be pedantic, terse, and incomprehensible. Schaum’s authors know that if people can’t understand them, they won’t get paid.

I don’t know how much I’ll use these books. Honestly, I don’t think Mathews and Walker is a good text. It just bugged me. I can sell my chewed-up copy for about what the new one cost, so no loss.

There are also some books I’m glad I sold or lost. J.J. Jackson’s book on E&M is pretty horrible. I think I still have Fetter and Walecka’s abominable mechanics text. If so, I should start using the pages to locate end mills on workpieces.

Ants eat books. Believe it. Don’t take any chances when you store your library.

One Response to “Consider the Ant”

  1. Stephen McAteer Says:

    “pedantic, terse, and incomprehensible” – sounds like computer programming books. (I’m trying to teach myself programming…)