Holy Asimov!

I wasn't really expecting my first math post to be something of a tribute, but here it is.


I am going to share with you a very brief piece of section 10: Luke Warm at Forty Below

Luke checked the thermometer on his wrist. "Holy Asimov, I can't believe it! It's forty below!"



The story is about astronauts broadcasting their adventures back to earth, and into classrooms.

Someone in the classroom asks if they mean minus 40 Celsius or minus 40 Fahrenheit. The teacher isn't sure, but another student pipes up that it is minus 40 Celsius.

Surprised, the teacher asks if the student is sure.
The student says she isn't but she knows that she's right.

The tale ends by asking the reader why. Brilliant stuff.


Reading this book fed my hunger for trivia, and effecting a love and sense of puzzles that has never, ever faded.



The book, as excellent as it is, has not just one set of answers. When reading the first answer, you are given further story and questions, to lead you to a second set of answers. Repeat. There is a third set.

Beautiful.







I never forgot what I learned the day I read it.





I have had this book for twenty-seven years.




Thank you, sir, and R.I.P.