I now have 66 prints prepared for the World Science Fiction Convention art show print shop. I will share the print shop with dozens of other artists. The show runs from 2 to 5 September in Boston. It's part of the convention and thus is only open to paying guests, I'm sorry to say. The images in this upcoming show of mine date from 1995 through 2002 and all of them can be seen on my Website. I feel rather annoyed and even unhappy that I don't have any new original art to display at the convention, but with job, mathematics, and commercial commissions, I just haven't had the time to make new art. I hope that the older pieces will still be appreciated (and bought) in my old territory of Boston, where I grew up and spent my first years in the science fiction fan community. I am far less active among the fans than I used to be, but it is still good to go to a Worldcon and see friends from all around the country, and even some from overseas.

Math with Paul Klee

I will be in New England for a week after the convention, visiting my parents' home in the "north woods." I expect to add some entries to this Weblog while up there. Of course, I'll have my math with me. I put 1958 back on the shelf, and I put Barron's algebra review text (with the "Ruritanians") back too. I have never had any luck with the Barron's texts, as you remember from my trigonometry studies. I can only assume that these books are made for use in a class with a teacher. Also, the algebra text expects the student to know simple computer programming, which I certainly don't. There are assignments at the end of each problem set where the student must program some computer to do basic mathematical computation. I know nothing of computer programming, at least not yet. I am still working on learning how to use the slide rule.

The book I'm taking with me is my underused "White Paul Klee" book. It is a businesslike but mild-mannered text for first-year college students. It has thick, smooth white paper, a blocky shape, and weighs a lot, so it isn't a casual briefcase type of book. The real title of "White Paul Klee" is: INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA:GRAPHS AND FUNCTIONS by Roland E Larson, Robert P. Hostetler, and the evocatively named Carolyn F. Neptune, whose name suggests a mathematical mermaid. A search on Amazon shows pages of math text books written by the prolific Roland "Ron" Larson. I suppose someone's gotta write these things. The current edition of this book is listed on Amazon for a whopping $105.56. I got the ten-year-old edition, in mint condition, from a discount mail-order book list for about $8. I definitely "did the math" there.

The Paul Klee on the cover is titled "Pyramide, 1930.138." It is one of Klee's geometric watercolors. Paul Klee is one of my favorite artists, especially when he works in the geometric style you can see if you scroll down on the link page to Klee's neat picture with the arrows in it. I imitate his art, and that of his friend Wassily Kandinsky constantly. I want art that looks like math. Art that snaps shut like well-crafted equations. Art that solves problems.

I'll be reviewing logarithms, sequences, and progressions with this book over the next few weeks, when I get the time. The book has plenty of clear exposition, worked-through examples, problem sets, and "real life situation" problems with applied math. It is patient and does not rush the student. The headings and many accents are in colored printing, but it isn't at all garish. Best of all, it has no fantasy characters in it. It also has no logarithm table in the back. Just press the button, Wassily, it's 1994.

Posted at 2:39 am | link