JEFF IN VENICE, DEATH IN VARANASI (GEOFF DYER) AND TON AS AN APROXIMATE MEASURE

 The wood was stacked, chopped, weighed and carried down to the water again, probably weighed again. Each cremation required a ton of wood. Ton in the sense of a lot, not a specific unit of measurement

 

I think it´s an subtle clarification of the term ton, unnecessary, but subtle. Nowadays, a ton is equal to a thousand kilos, but its name and its origin are quite confusing because of its relation with the whimsical English imperial units.

The text could have told us about the diferences between a literal ton and a metaphoric one. Curiously, when teenagers, in their current language, say literally a ton, they mean both meanings, because literally is used as figuratively now.

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW (AMOR TOWLES) AND PRIME NUMBERS THEOREM

 “The list of prime numbers begins with two, three, and five, as you say. But prime numbers grow increasingly rare the larger they become. So it is one thing to land upon a seven or eleven. But to land upon a one thousand and nine is another thing altogether. Can you imagine identifying a prime number in the hundreds of thousands . . . ? In the millions . . . ?”

 

It´s clear that the larger a number is, the more difficult is to find out whether this number meets the requirements of being a prime number. I´d dare to say, using a quirky analogy, that it´s also harder and harder to find a mate as you become older.

And yet, as a very well-known theorem by Euclides says, there´s an infinite number of prime numbers. So, according to my analogy, there´s hope for singles.