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Title: Eudaemonic Pie
ISBN: 0394743105
Author:
Thomas Bass
Publicate Date: 1986-02-12
Publish: 1986-02-12
List Price: $5.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.66
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.25
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| Customer Review: |
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1: not perfect narrative, but one-of-a-kind experience
- Love this story! There is some validity in the reviews that critique the pace/style of the writing. However, I read it back in the early 90s, and the fact that it is still a vivid recollection counts for something. The advantage of time passage in analysis is better context and objectivity. Of course the disadvantage is that the details are not fresh. Probably I have forgotten minor irritations with style, while the strongly positive impression lingers. I do not give 5 stars lightly; though in this case the rating is more for the intrinsic wonder of the tale more than the technical adeptness in the telling.
- The story is ultimately not about the goal, not about winning or losing or beating the house. Its really about the journeying. A unique shared human experience of some ordinary yet extraordinary people in ordinary yet extraordinary times. The ordinary draws the reader in with a continual reminder that it's a true story, magnifying the extraordinary nature of events. Somehow I found it intensely compelling to follow the characters and realize that in the same month I was, say, starting a newspaper route or trying to make the varsity soccer team, these offbeat-yet-practical, idealistic-yet-enterprising, brilliant-yet-sidetracked, anachronistic hippie-tinged grad students were mathematically modeling a roulette table in their central california bungalow or troubleshooting a shock-giving computer taped to their body in a casino bathroom hoping security won't find them out. Its a human story because its about about creativity, determination, curiosity, fear, motivation, joy, friendship and pain. Its a techno-geek-as-hero story as they blaze trails at the forefront of computer technology before you could even think about buying a TRS-80, much less a Commodore 64. I think Azeel's review quite accurately hints at a successful fusion of eclectic but fascinating elements.
- Is the book too long? Should the pace be quicker? Perhaps, but the bottom line is it works. Some other stories may be generally comparable as far as being in the category of true story of a group on some venture (e.g. Fullness of Wings by Dorsey) but Eudaemonic Pie is different than anything else I've read. Partially this is because the slice of time and place in the silicon valley spanning the era of post Vietnam-disco-hostage crisis-Reaganomics is different. It's not for everyone, if you don't give it a try you may miss out on a flavor not to be served anywhere else.
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2: Non Fiction
A group of students and researcher types are hanging out together and generally having a good time. They come up with a project, trying to beat casinos at roulette. After a long time spent on experiments and various methods, they manage to come up with one. It, of course involves various social techniques as well as the scientific ones to prevent them being booted out, as per usual. It is something that won't work today, though.
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3: crapped out literature
hey if you want to read a well written book look somewhere else. I managed to finish this book because I kept in near my bed and it got me to sleep faster. Well not sure how this author got published but you can read the book for yourself if you want to fin d out. If you know what this book is about already then there's really no point in actually reading it. You certainly won't gain any insight into physics or science, the writing only skims the surface and does keeps it relativelly bland. Kindof of like a science fiction movie with computers that flash a bunch of images on computer screens for effects without actually attempting to penetrate the actual science of it all. I could go on and on, but that's what the book already did.
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4: Intriguing story, clumsily written
I'll admit it: I'm a geek, and the idea of a bunch of math geniuses using homebuilt computers to beat roulette is right up my alley. The plot does not disappoint, as an eccentric band of high-octane misfits create a commune motivated by discovery, innovation and greed.Unfortunately, the author's style is often ham-handed, leaving the reader with the unsettling feeling that the story should have been told differently. For one thing, the plot follows the project's timeline with mind-numbing accuracy. It's okay for journalism, but it leaves many of the juiciest details buried amongst mundane activities. In addition, the pacing does not change, giving the book a feel of bloodless efficiency rather than real passion or excitement. A few years ago I read Paul Hoffman's "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers," the excellent biography of mathemetician Paul Erdos. The whole way through "Eudamonic Pie" I found myself wishing that Thomas Bass had emulated Hoffman's engaging intertwining of Erdos' life, the history of math and the obscure culture and argot of top mathemeticians. Instead, I found this book to be an interesting plot bogged down by a flat and lifeless style. Sort of like Leonard Nimoy singing "Proud Mary."
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5: Brainy techno team takes on the casinos
What this team set out to do was only possible to get away with during a very narrow window in history. Sharp analytical and electronic skills at the dawn of the microelectronic age made it possible, and at a time when casinos weren't paying much attention to the threat posed by this emerging technology. Those days are gone forever. The casinos finally wised up around 1983.
Bass has done a great job of telling the story of how a couple of physics postgraduate students and their friends develop tiny computers controlled by toe switches enable them to achieve an edge over the casino at roulette.
This was particularly poignant for me, because I independently developed similar wheel-clocking methods and verified a 26% advantage over the house on a rented casino quality roulette wheel in 1976. The 'device law', which Nevada passed in the early 80's in response to people attempting to use technology to sack their coffers, largely put an end to concealed computers in casinos. Those to whom a felony rap is no deterrent are presumably still at it, using extremely advanced and difficult-to-detect hardware.
Bass' story is a fascinating read and highly reccommended.
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