Subject: Re: [HM] The Universal History of Numbers
From: Udai Venedem (venedem@wanadoo.fr)
Date: Mon Jun 05 2000 - 20:35:30 EDT
Dear Heinz,
it is indeed a (very bad) tradition in French edition of this lacking of
index. There are only very few exceptions, and when you see a French book
WITH index, you can count it as to find a four leaves trefoil. When I make a
description a French book, and it has an index, I always notify this. I have
studied this question for a long time, and did not stay at the simplest
explanation, the pecuniary, as French editors have a solid reputation of
being avaricious, but the development of electronic text composition did not
change much the situation, as it should have if it was the only reason. No,
the only good explanation lies in the fundamental pedantry of French
authors. A French author considers himself as an artist, whose work has to
be read on the continuity when indexes are good for utilitarian works.
Just consider, to fit with our List, the first edition of Bossut: it has no
index!!!
> The consequence is that one can read it, but one cannot use it
You could not say it more properly. In these cases, I personally spend some
hours to make an index of my own.
Udai Venedem
venedem@wanadoo.fr
welcomes you at
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/alta.mathematica/
a site devoted to collector's books of mathematics
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