"Here's Looking at Euclid" by Alex Bellos

It is coincidentally appropriate that my 100th blog post here is a review of a book about numbers. This book was one of the most interesting and enjoyable reading experiences of my life.

Let me start by explaining how this book caught my attention. I was introduced to a YouTube channel called "Numberphile" a while back. It is a very fun channel that has videos discussing all kinds of interesting "numbery" things: calculating pi, randomness and card shuffling, prime numbers, the invention of the first mechanical calculator (not electric), infinity, etc. I find these videos fascinating - which surprises even me, because I was always so bad at math in school. (I miserably failed the math portion of my college entrance exam... The registrar said, "Hm... Well, you're a theology major, so it doesn't matter.")

One of the videos that I saw was an interview with Alex Bellos, and the description of the video mentions that he had written a book called "Here's Looking at Euclid" (or, in the UK, "Alex's Adventures in Numberland"). I thought to myself that I would like to have the book one day. So when a Barnes and Noble gift card made its way into my hands this past Christmas (you know who you are - thanks!) I sought out the book and purchased it.

I didn't know what to expect, but the book is fantastic. This is out-of-the-box for me. I read a lot of fiction, and lots of Christian living/inspirational/ministry books; but I have never read a book on math and numbers!

The very first chapter astounded me, as the author discussed tribal people whose languages do not have words for numbers above 5, and the very idea of counting anything never enters their minds. They don't count hours, days, family members, fruit in a basket - practically nothing! We cannot even imagine such a thing, but cultures like these exist today.

From that point, I was hooked. Some chapters in the book cover the history of mathematical ideas, things like the invention of the number zero (again, I never considered what life was like before zero existed!), or the invention of the decimal point. There are chapters about things like probability and gambling, number games (like Sudoku), and the presence of the Fibonacci sequence in nature.

The author's style of writing is VERY comfortable to follow, even for a math-challenged mind like mine. He introduces historical characters (such as Euclid, or Blaise Pascal) in fresh new ways. Whether he is explaining the math behind a card trick, or describing how people memorize the digits of pi to thousands of places, the author keeps your attention firmly engaged.

I wish my high school  math classes were as fun as this book. Perhaps if they had been, I would not have failed the math portion of my college entrance exam!

101 out of 101 stars (given in binary).

"Open" by Craig Gross

Craig Gross is a bit of a controversial figure. He is the brain behind the creation of X3Watch accountability software (which I am a fan of, and have used it for years). His ministry has done a lot to help men overcome struggles with pornography and sex addiction. They also do outreaches to adult film stars, and other "professionals" of that industry.

I read this book hoping that he would have some great insights on accountability that I could use for myself and the young adults at my church. To be perfectly honest, I could not recommend this book at all.

This issue is so very important - and many churches are silent about it when they should face it aggressively. It is by far the #1 hidden struggle of Christian men. There is no stigma attached to alcohol, tobacco, or even gambling like there is to pornography. Because it is never addressed in a pro-active way in church, most men have felt as though they should deal with this issue privately without the aid of the church. This is a recipe for spiritual (and marital) disaster.... Brothers and sisters, let us minister love and grace to the men (AND women) who are trapped in the deadly and isolated world of sex addiction and pornography. I'm glad men like Craig Gross are addressing the problem in effective ways.

However, I believe this book missed the mark badly in a few points. To the best of my memory, there were NO Bible verses used in this book. And God MAY HAVE been mentioned maybe once? "Faith" was mentioned a few times, as was "spiritual growth." But there was no meat (nor milk) behind these words. This is unforgivable coming from the pen of a "pastor". He could argue that he was attempting to reach a wider audience - but there are secular avenues of help for the non-religious. The church, however, is STARVING for help in this area. Why not focus on the needs of your brethren in the church? Not to mention that the Bible has so much to say about it!

In the second place, apart from Gross' own story of one of his accountability groups, and some inspirational examples - as well as some tragic bad examples from our culture - there was not much practical use of it. The few principles that he gives for accountability are fairly obvious, and anyone who might be seeking such a relationship for accountability would probably find them intuitive (things like total honesty, confidentiality, consistent dialogue with the accountability partner, etc).

I breezed through the book quickly, but felt like there was not much substance here.

For a more "Christ-and-church-focused" approach to accountability, I can suggest "Iron Sharpens Iron" by Howard and Bill Hendricks. And, for pornography specifically, it is hard to improve upon "Every Man's Battle" by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker (they also have books for women, married couples, young men, and young ladies).