Couple a Books

I haven't read these yet, but already believe they're worth noting...:

Mathematician Gregory Chaitin is out with a new book (barely over 100 pgs., and looks good): "Proving Darwin: Making Biology Mathematical" -- a book that treats the DNA code as a universal programming language, while looking at the mathematical underpinnings of biology and evolution; definitely, adding it to my reading queue.

a blurb about it here:

http://physicsdatabase.com/2012/05/03/proving-darwin-making-biology-mathematical/
(includes a Chaitin lecture video)



Secondly, not exactly a math book… but from one of the best math explicators out there, and with a great title and story, worth mentioning here, the last book from Steven Strogatz: "The Calculus of Friendship."

It's the touching story of Strogatz' long-time relationship with one of his math teacher-mentors, and I can't help but think many a mathematician will relate to some aspects of that relationship. A couple of Web reviews of the book here:

http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/a-growing-affinity

http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2009_09_015101.php

And a couple of clips of Strogatz talking about the volume here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9piYoYqIf3I

http://www.radiolab.org/2009/nov/30/calculove/ 

And Strogatz has a new book scheduled for release this coming fall:
 
"The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math From One to Infinity"

...gots to be good!