How does the Lieber, Mazur,Lieber book (Infinity, beyond...) relate to Lieber & Lieber's Infinity from 1953? Is it a reissue / update? I found the latter in my high school library over 50 years ago (1958), and I liked it so much I was still wanting a copy when it became possible to look for used books on line. I succeeded in buying a copy in 2002.

As I look at the copy I have, I'm struck by what fine shape it's in, which is sad, as it is a copy withdrawn from the St. Ignatius High School in San Franscisco -- obviously because of lack of use...

After reading Infinity, I had to have The Education of TCMits, by the same authors. That's fun at least partly because of the mix of math and personal philosophy.

So, let me add my endorsement for Lieber's books

Interesting to see what's there.

A few years ago, though, I started to wonder -- why do we seem to be concerned when the government has detailed information about us, but not when business does?

Your bank probably says they'll only share your information with related companies... but they carefully don't say what counts as "related"...

Was there anything in those records, I wonder, that the airline didn't know, or the credit card company?

I, too, drive a Prius. I find the earlier remarks about accelerating slowly and allowing the car to slow a bit climbing hills fit my experience. When I got the car, I couldn't get much above 35 MPG during the first month or so -- but as I came to understand those things, I've done much better. I now feel bad if my average mpg over a several-mile trip drops below 50mpg. Short trips are killers, regardless of how you drive -- the engine is warming up. On long highway trips, I do notice that there's a speed, typically between 60 and 70, where efficiency starts to drop -- but I can generally stay above 50mpg driving around 65mph.