Books are my Football and I'm Still Tired

If you’ve ever wondered why I am so good at trivia, the answer is that I read, literally, every day; mostly non-fiction.  I throw in a little fiction here and there when my brain needs to take a break.  I am currently reading several books, because that is how I roll.  One of them, The Book of Answers (BoA) edited by the Reference Librarian at the New York Public Library, is from 1990 and is filled with the most unusual and entertaining questions patrons have asked over the years.

One of the seven books on my bedside table, that is about to be put into rotation, once I finish the hilarious You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson, is called Jenniemae & James by Brooke Newman.  I picked it up at the thrift store for $2 and it struck my fancy as the inside of the book jacket stated, “James Newman was a brilliant mathematician, the man who introduced the mathematical concept of ‘googol’ and ‘googolplex’.  Googol is 1 x 10¹⁰⁰, which is 10 with 100 zeroes after it.  It was, at one time, the largest number used in math.  I learned this bit of trivia from my high school Physics teacher, Albert Wood.  And, yes, it’s where the name of the company Google got its name. 

                One of the things that I dislike is when I read something that is simply untrue, and I know it’s untrue, but because it’s published or said with authority, other people are then misinformed.  For example, when I worked at Blockbuster Music (remember those?), I was surrounded by really dorky, music snobs who loved to blather on about esoteric musicians Yngwie Malmsteen but have no knowledge of normal songs and artists that customers want to buy. 

One day the Malmsteen fan answered the phone, said, “No way, man.  What a crazy question.  I guess you lose.” and hung up the phone.  I was curious what question he thought was crazy.  He said, “that guy asked if Patrick Swayze (the actor) ever had a hit record.  He had a bet with his friends.”

I replied, “Well, he did have a hit record.  ‘She’s Like the Wind’ went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.  It’s from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.”

He said, “Well, how am I supposed to know that?”

I glared at him and his ponytail and said, “You could have asked someone.” I was irritated mostly because that poor guy was right and he'll lose a bet because he was unfortunate enough to call when I was on a Dr. Pepper break.

Then there was the time that I was reading some pretentious drivel in the late 90s and the author stated that Janet Jackson had starred in the sitcom The Jeffersons, which is not true.  She was in the cast of Good Times, Diff’rent Strokes and Fame as well as her family’s variety show, but she was not on The Jeffersons.  How did his editor not catch that?  I almost sent a letter of complaint, but it was the 90s and I was too busy rocking out to No Doubt and Nicki French.  Well, not so much rocking out as dancing like a sorority girl, but whatever.

Anyway, I was reading The BoA’s section on Science and it stated “(Googol) first used in 1940 by nine-year-old Milton Sirotta…It was brought to public attention by Sirotta’s uncle, mathematician Edward Kasner, in his book Mathematics and the Imagination.”

That information struck me as somewhat familiar, so I picked up Jenniemae and James to re-read the inside jacket; I needed to confirm what I had read.  I confirmed what I had read.  I discussed it with Ben.  We decided, coincidentally, to Google the information to see what I could find.  It turns out that Newman and Kasner co-authored the mathematics book, but Newman’s biography lists him as the person who came up with the word ‘googol’.  At least there was a measure of truth in both books; not comprehensive fact but not untrue either.

I was glad that there was no need to contact either or both publishers to help them see their error(s).  Ben congratulated me on my arm-chair editing.  Books are our Football, y’all.

This must be why I’m tired all the time.  You’re welcome.