Novels and Theorems

I went to the bookshop but the Da Vinci Code is sold out.

That? You haven't read it yet?

Well, I admit, no. I know it's not rated greatly, but I need something light to balance Thomas Mann.

You like classical books?

I do. I just finished Tale of Two Cities. But I also like science books. I am a physicist by training, you know.

Have you read Deva Sobel's Longitude?

Oh yes, the book about clocks.That was good.

And Fermat's Last Theorem? Some people say if you put one theorem in a book, you lose thousands of readers.

Well, I'm not so sure. Many educated people read novels nowadays.They demand more out of mere stories. They want ideas. Even physicists read novels. I number among my friends ten of them.

Yes, but there are not so many physicists in the world
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