The Violence And Double-talk In The Alice

[t]he More The Public Is Confused, The Easier It Falls Prey To Doctrines Of Pseudo-science Which May At Some Future Date Recieve The Backing Of Politically Powerful Groups [...]a Renaissance Of German Quasi-science Paralleled The Rise Of Hitler.

There Are, And Always Have Been, Destructive Pseudo-scientific Notions Linked To Race And Religion; These Are The Most Widespread And Damaging. Hopefully, Educated People Can Succeed In Shedding Light Into These Areas Of Prejudice And Ignorance, For As Voltaire Once Said: "men Will Commit Atrocities As Long As They Believe Absurdities."

As Far As I Know, Clifford Pickover Is The First Mathematician To Write A Book About Areas Where Math And Theology Overlap. Are There Mathematical Proofs Of God? Who Are The Great Mathematicians Who Believed In A Deity? Does Numerology Lead Anywhere When Applied To Sacred Literature? Pickover Covers These And Many Other Off-trail Topics With His Usual Verve, Humor, And Clarity. And Along The Way The Reader Will Learn A Great Deal Of Serious Mathematics.

If You Ask Me To Tell You Anything About The Nature Of What Lies Beyond The Phaneron… My Answer Is “how Should I Know?”… I Am Not Dismayed By Ultimate Mysteries… I Can No More Grasp What Is Behind Such Questions As My Cat Can Understand What Is Behind The Clatter I Make While I Type This Paragraph.

The Last Level Of Metaphor In The Alice Books Is This: That Life, Viewed Rationally And Without Illusion, Appears To Be A Nonsense Tale Told By An Idiot Mathematician. At The Heart Of Things Science Finds Only A Mad, Never-ending Quadrille Of Mock Turtle Waves And Gryphon Particles. For A Moment The Waves And Particles Dance In Grotesque, Inconceivably Complex Patterns Capable Of Reflecting On Their Own Absurdity.