I suppose you can find me saying something similar to this at amazon, but either way....
PRAISE FOR HALMOS.
Something I like about Halmos is that he actually details his FAILURES (gasp!). He detailed when he failed from graduate school in philosophy, his
hardship in becoming an assistant or getting a job. I certainly learned
a lot from Halmos' successes, but I felt I learned a lot more
in his detailing of his failures.
The reason I am pointing this
out in such detail is because if you read other biographies of other
famous scientists, you get the feeling that you have to have been doing
hardcore science since you were 15, have excelled in every path you came
across, and finished your PhD by your 21st birthday; and if you don't
you're a miserable failure of a human being. Halmos is the antithesis
of these stories. Halmos story shows that you can do math if you thunk
around everywhere, so long as you keep your nose to the grindstone and
like what you're doing, and gives valuable advice about HOW to do this.
Halmos wasn't born with some superhero genetics or superpowers.
Halmos is the Batman.
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