tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post8921665362080713210..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: A Lifetime in LibrariesDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-26721883445642089712013-02-28T14:16:05.419-06:002013-02-28T14:16:05.419-06:00Great thing about computational physics and comput...Great thing about computational physics and computational chemistry, is that our disasters don't smell. Not unless it's a hardware problem. (grin)<br /><br />The time I spent working in the Northwestern University Library between my BA and grad school I consider my second university education. (double-grin)<br /><br />Dr. PhilDr. Phil (Physics)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11943336276878704753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-36766178035546560642013-02-27T22:12:37.516-06:002013-02-27T22:12:37.516-06:00PN Oak is phenomenally weird. My roommate and I c...PN Oak is phenomenally weird. My roommate and I checked out his book several times just to gawk at it. No doubt this skewed his circ stats a bit. :)<br /><br />I don't worry about missing stuff in other languages when there is just so much I still don't know in English. I think it's nice, in a way, having limits.<br /><br />John, I was in liberal arts - the library <i>was</i> my laboratory.<br /><br />Plus, as my wife the chemist has often told me, "A few weeks in the lab can often save you a couple of hours in the library." ;)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-30438967962656273442013-02-27T16:37:54.580-06:002013-02-27T16:37:54.580-06:00A good third of the books were in languages other ...<i>A good third of the books were in languages other than English – many in the loopy scripts of South Asia, which the library seemed to specialize in for some reason. There was a whole world of knowledge out there, in other words, that remains even to this day a mystery to me. That kind of knowing one’s limitations is important in life, I think.</i><br /><br />That's probably why they had the P.N. Oak book in English, too. I googled him, and damn was he strange.<br /><br />To this day I get angry when I can't read something. There is just so much tome left in my life, and I can read 5 languages that are native to over have the world's population, but there it is. I'm upset when I come across Thai or Urdu.<br /><br /><i>Graduate students live in libraries, often in carrels that are specifically reserved for them.</i> <br /><br />No, graduate students live in laboratories. They run to libraries to get away from the smell when their labmate spills something nasty down the sink or they don't want to explain their lack of progress to their advisor. :pJohn the Scientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467337009577733553noreply@blogger.com