Book on Biblical humor is ‘gospel according to Peters’
To most, the Bible is a somber work, full of such serious melodramas as Abraham intent on carving up his son at God’s demand, Job enduring his many burdensome troubles, and powerful, piercing language, such as the immortal line: Jesus wept. To David A. Peters, Ph.D., McDonnell Douglas Professor of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, the Bible indeed is a beautiful work that is sprinkled liberally with, at times, rollicking humor. Peters, whose academic expertise is aeronautics, particularly helicopter mechanics, has written a book, The Many Faces of Biblical Humor (Hamilton Books, 2008) that overwhelmingly backs his claim.
Mathematician pens book about famous mathematician foibles and funnies
Steven G. Krantz, Ph.D., professor of mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis, illuminates mathematicians’ very human brilliance in his book, Mathematical Apocrypha Redux, his sequel to his successful, original Mathematical Apocrypha, published in 2002, both by the Mathematical Association of America. The book is a collection of anecdotes about famous mathematicians and their frivolity, wisdom and situations, revealing more vulnerable, human versions of the remote and often eccentric savants. More…