From "Lion Hunting": [Mathematical Reviews] sent me a paper by a Japanese author who kept referring to "stricken mass distributions." I couldn't figure out what those were, and finally wrote to the editor of the journal in which the paper had appeared He sent me a copy of the referee's report, which had been sent to the author; this said, in part, "The term 'generalized mass distribution' is no longer used. The word 'generalized' should be stricken."
Ralph P. Boas, Jr. in a recollection from working for the Mathematical Reviews
From "Lion Hunting": Murray Peshkin listened to an explanation by a student, along the lines of (a long statement), 'so' (another long statement). Murray said, "I understand everything except the 'so.'"
Recollection of Boas on teaching
The subtitle of this book is "A Collection of Mathematics, Verse, and Stories by Ralph P. Boas, Jr." One doesn't usually think of mathematics and verse together, unless one is a mathematician.
I have a variety of books on my shelves that are expositions of mathematics or what might be considered popular mathematics. There are times when I bought a book because I thought I would want to read it later only to find my tastes in mathematical topics had changed before I got a chance. In fact, I rarely read any of these books and have given many away.
This one I'm glad I kept. The chapters are relatively short and range from articles from mathematical journals, poetry about mathematics or the profession, short pieces of fiction or mathematical reviews, and reminiscences by Boas and some of his students.
I was delighted by the stories of studying mathematics and being at various universities. Mathematicians can have a certain sense of humor, and Boas's stories about other mathematicians brought back some wonderful memories of graduate school. Many of the stories were familiar, as I'm sure were passed down to me from my professors or just similar to my own experiences. Boas spent some time at Duke and I recognized his descriptions of the Physics Building and the campus, and I think I recognized a name or two.
The title comes from a game Boas and his colleagues played about how to capture a lion using mathematics. The game resulted in many "papers" being published in the American Mathematical Monthly, because the editors of math journals have a sense of humor as well. They also created a pseudonym and published under it. The purported "author" was from a fictitious country, and there was an account of his ward marrying the daughter of Bourbaki, another pseudonym under which mathematics was published.
I didn't read all of the mathematical papers carefully, but I did scan them and found a couple of ideas that I would like to use in class. I enjoyed Boas's recollections, two examples of which I give above. The pieces of fiction, like "The Temptation of Professor McShohat", were fun.
In fact, it was as a writer that Boas excelled. Thus, it makes sense that he was a long time editor of the Mathematical Reviews. I wish that I had used one of his textbooks. I also wish I had known him when he was alive. I would recommend this book to anyone who knows math, knows mathematicians and wants an exemplar of how to write mathematics and how to write about mathematics.
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