I’m Through Praising Ben Orlin…

If you live anywhere in MathLand you likely know that today is the day that a new Ben Orlin book hits the streets (creating similar anticipation to the first Tesla!).

I’ve written so much and often about the creative mind, writing, humor, of Ben Orlin that it's time to STOP it!… stop sounding like a broken record (and as we all know broken records can only be right twice a day… er wait, nevermind, that’s clocks). 

Anyway, some smart-aleck genealogist will probably discover that Ben and I are 17th cousins thrice removed, and claim that that alone explains my incessant, redundant praise. So I shan't be telling you anything about the marvelous fun and insights of Ben’s newest fantabulous, beautifully-produced, sparkling opus, “Change Is the Only Constant,” the 713th book this year (so it seems) on the subject of calculus... BUT the the only one with page-after-page of cartoons (conferring that rare privilege of laughing at the term “Weierstrass’s function”). The book is not a novel, though it IS novel; it’s not a textbook, but it will explain some calculus, even to the phobic — it’s almost what you might expect if Dave Barry ever wrote a volume about calculus… but no, not really (zero mention of "boogers" for example). My only review of this, and all future Orlin volumes, therefore will be, “BUY and laugh along, and be eternally thankful that his wife and first epsilon are willing to share Ben so generously with the rest of the public!" (also, do eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom on occasion).

So, sorry, I WILL NOT describe to you any of the joyous, meticulous bits this volume contains from beginning to end! (or even in the middle). Why spoil your fun.

Just buy, read, learn, laugh… and, wait patiently for Ben’s third book to come out, the one where, at long last, I expect round-faced buddy #2 will prove the Riemann Hypothesis -- I feel certain Ben secretly has a proof, but it's too long for this blog post.

p.s…. be sure to read all the book's interesting endnotes as well: Class Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements (where, interestingly, Ben divulges that the book “collapsed” at one point before he salvaged the “wreckage”).

Meanwhile, I'm absolutely committed to leaving the waaay-overused phrase** "Ben Orlin" out of all future posts (uhhh, wish me luck).


** needless to say, this promise doesn't hold for any other commonly over-used phrases, like "shit weasel"*** for Donald Trump

*** or, "Putin Puppet"