Misfortune struck one June day in 1944, when a five-year-old boy was blinded following an accident with a paring knife. That boy, Larry W. Baggett, grew up to become an internationally renowned research mathematician and a successful university professor. At every stage in his life, Baggett broke new ground: he was the first blind student enrolled in the Orlando public school system, the first blind student admitted to Davidson College, and the first blind doctoral student in mathematics at the University of Washington. This memoir describes his successes and failures as a blind person living and learning in the sighted world. In addition, he reflects on his two great passions in life – mathematics and music – with short musings on both topics, such as discussing how to figure out how many dominoes are in a set, the intricacies of jazz chord progressions, and the mysterious Comma of Pythagoras.
• The inspirational story of a groundbreaking blind mathematician • Contains many entertaining musings on mathematics and music
Contents
Prologue; 1. Uncle Al's truss; 2. A quantum moment; 3. Louis and the problem of sixty-three; 4. A cane mutiny; 5. Pinocchio becomes a real boy; 6. Aunt Mildred and the circle of fifths; 7. Scarlet ribbons; 8. Dauntless courage; 9. The age of enlightenment; 10. Baggett v. Bullitt, and all that jazz; 11. Publish or perish, my best work; 12. The renaissance; 13. 'So how'd that all work out for you?'; Epilogue.
Printer friendly version