Mark and Jie's Journey to B-School

I just finished the 916 page behemoth that was Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson. I really liked it, though I don't think most people would. I'm a big fan of calculus, both the history and meaning thereof as well as the application, which is an underlying current of the book. It seems to me that perhaps Stephenson created this whole entertaining story, complete with spys, pirates, damsels in distress, court intrigue, revolutions, etc., just to tell the story of the development of calculus and what it meant to the world. It is also a fascinating glimpse inside Europe of the late 1600's, the time of Louis XIV, the Glorious Revolution, the formation of the Royal Society, etc. Much the same way that Memoirs of Hadrian, a book I read over the break, described the Roman Empire 1500 years before.

I can't wait to get The Confusion, the next book in Stephenson's trilogy. I'll have to hold off until I return from Houston, though. It's time to focus on my last two interviews of the internship process.