Whatever possessed anybody to use the words and and/or or? Especially since and means add in many contexts
It must sound like a wail like in French? – the quote comes from Poincaré’s Science & Method
I love that ‘most interesting’
Poincaré himself was a most interesting, & kindly sounding man – I really appreciate his insistence that the teaching of maths should start with the concrete & then move to the abstract
It must be 35 years ago. Theres a gentleman I know by sight as a regular passenger on the bus. Past middle age, well dressed, always wears a hat – a brown trilby (like Denis Thatcher)
One afternoon he is forced to take the seat next to me – no regular passenger on the old Routemasters took an outside seat on the top deck. Always bag an inside seat when you can, to avoid the bumps to your shoulder from people passing up & down the gangway
He was clearly – but discreetly – following my progress with the crossword puzzle. When it was plain that the final clue had defeated me, he could not resist
Sorry to interrupt – can you really not do that one?
I conceded defeat
Poincaré
To tell the truth, I was a teeny bit shocked. In the same way that a small child is shocked – hand to mouth, eyes wide – then giggles, with the realisation that a Grown Up has said something THAT’S RUDE
I cannot remember the clue in detail, but the cryptic bit was something like chamber pot in the market square
To this day I am a teeny bit shocked – or at least surprised – if the Top Peoples Paper is ever so slightly rude with its clues
And I can almost never think of Poincaré without thinking of the porcelain under the bed
