The book review column

In this column we review the following books. 1. A joint review of the following items. The reviews are by William Gasarch. (a) Reality Conditions: Short Mathematical Fiction, by Alex Kasman. This is a collection of short stories that use Math as a theme. It is written by a mathematician so it is factually correct. Its also surprisingly good. I mean no disrespect, but initially I expected that a mathematician writing fiction would have the same quality as a writer doing mathematics. (b) Numb3rs, TV show. No, its not a misprint, they use a '3' instead of an 'e'. This is a TV show where they solve crimes using Math. Is it interesting? Is the math accurate? Do they listen to their math consultants? (c) Mathematical Apocryphia: Stories and Annecdotes of Mathematicians and the Mathematical by Steven Kranz (d) Mathematical Apocryphia Redux: More Stories and Annecdotes of Mathematicians and the Mathematical by Steven Kranz. These are books of annecdotes about mathematicians. Are they interesting? A mixed bag. 2. A joint review of the following items. They are all books about particular numbers.The Kruskal Triplets.) An entire book on √ 2. Is there enough there for a book? Is there enough there for a review? Read the review and decide. Books I want Reviewed If you want a FREE copy of one of these books in exchange for a review, then email me at gasarchcs.umd.edu Reviews need to be in LaTeX, LaTeX2e, or Plaintext.