TITLE: This Version of the Facts
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: January 01, 2021 12:01 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
<blockquote><em>
 The physicist Leo Szilard once announced to his friend Hans
 Bethe that he was thinking of keeping a diary: "I don't
 intend to publish it; I am merely going to record the facts
 for the information of God."  "Don't you think God knows
 the facts?" Bethe asked.  "Yes," said Szilard.  "He knows
 the facts, but He does not know <b>this version of the
 facts</b>."
</em></blockquote>

 I began 2021 by starting to read <em>Disturbing the Universe</em>,
 Freeman Dyson's autobiographical attempt to explain to people who
 are not scientists what the human situation looks like to someone
 who is a scientist.  The above passage opens the author's preface.

 Szilard's motive seems like a pretty good reason to write a blog:
 to record the one's own version of the facts, for oneself and for
 the information of God.  Unlike Szilard, we have an alternative
 in between publishing and not publishing.  A blog is available
 for anyone to read, at almost no cost, but ultimately it is for
 the author, and maybe for God.

 I've been using the long break between fall and spring semesters
 to strengthen my blogging muscle and redevelop my blogging habit.
 I hope to continue to write more regularly again in the coming
 year.

 Dyson's book is a departure from my recent reading.  During
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2020-12.html#e2020-12-28T09_23_09.htm">
   the tough fall semester</a>,
 I found myself drawn to fiction, reading <em>Franny and Zooey</em>
 by J. D. Salinger, <em>The Bell Jar</em> by Sylvia Plath, <em>The
 Lucky Ones</em> by Rachel Cusk, and <em>The Great Gatsby</em> by
 F. Scott Fitzgerald, with
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2020-12.html#e2020-12-10T15_36_51.htm">
   occasional pages</a>
 from Andr&eacute; Gide's diary in the downtime between books.

 I've written about my interactions with Cusk before [
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2019-05.html#e2019-05-19T10_48_45.htm">
   Outline</a>,
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2019-10.html#e2019-10-27T10_23_47.htm">
   Transit</a>,
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2020-01.html#e2020-01-26T10_23_49.htm">
   Kudos</a>
 ], so one of her novels is no surprise here, but what's with those
 classics from sixty years ago or more?  These stories, told by
 deft and observant writers, seemed to soothe me.  They took the
 edge off of the long days.  Perhaps I could have seen a run of
 classic books coming...  In the frustrating summer run-up to fall,
 I read Thomas Mann's <em>Death in Venice</em> and Ursula Le Guin's
 <em>The Lathe of Heaven</em>.

 For some reason, yesterday I felt the urge to finally pick up
 Dyson's autobiography, which had been on my shelf for a few months.
 A couple of years ago, I read most of Dyson's memoir, <em>Maker of
 Patterns</em>, and found him an amiable and thoughtful writer.  I
 even wrote
<a href="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2018-11.html#e2018-11-17T16_00_20.htm">
   a short post</a>
 on one of his stories, in which Thomas Mann plays a key role.
 At the time, I said, "I've never read <em>The Magic Mountain</em>,
 or any Mann, for that matter.  I will correct that soon.  However,
 Mann will have to wait until I finish Dyson...".  2020 may have
 been a challenge in many ways, but it gave me at least two things:
 I read my first Mann (<em>Death in Venice</em> is much more
 approachable than <em>The Magic Mountain</em>...), and it returned
 me to Dyson.

 Let's see where 2021 takes us.
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