Welcome to three remarkable books!

Thoughts and Visions: A Collection of Essays

“Nostalgia for the Avant-Garde” and Other Stories

Genius without Genius: An Autobiography

all by John Franklin


Thoughts and Visions: A Collection of Essays

This is a collection of original essays by a unique thinker with an extensive background in technical subjects (mathematics and computer science) as well as in the humanities, yet whose style has a directness, wit and humor rarely found in academic writing.  Subjects include education, politics, economics, psychology, science, music, literature, writing, architecture, and philosophy.

Total number of pages: 652.  Chapters and index are individually downloadable as PDF files as follows:

Title page, dedication, and epigraphs
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Title page, etc.
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Preface, p. i - vi
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The Object, pp. 1 - 20
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Pictures and Reality, pp. 21 - 39
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Music, pp. 40 - 78
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Hypnagogic Art, pp. 79 - 96
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     To download hypnagogic art from the chapter, click here:  Hypnagogic Art: the Drawings
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Thoughts on Traffic, pp. 97 - 102
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Politics and Economics, pp. 103 - 164
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The Truth About the Israeli/Palestinian Situation
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Letter to the Islamic Terrorists, pp. 165 - 181
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How to Fight Terrorism, pp. 182-186
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Letter to a Young Intellectual About to Enter Industry, pp. 187-198
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The Object in the Life of Intellectuals and Artists, pp. 199 - 211
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Psychology, pp. 212 - 261
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On Friendship Between Men and Women, pp. 262 - 268
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Sex and Relationships, pp. 269 - 272
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The Middle-Aged Man's Checklist for Avoiding Heartbreak with Women, p. 273
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Loneliness, pp. 274 - 279
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Suicide, pp. 280 - 283
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Philosophy, pp. 284 - 341
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This Modern World, pp. 342 - 349
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Obedience, pp. 350 - 353
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How Shall We Live?, pp. 354 - 362
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Aging, pp. 363 - 366
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God, pp. 367 - 375
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The Ten Commandments (Revised), pp. 376 - 377
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Education and Learning, pp. 378 - 410
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Self-Consciousness, pp. 411 - 430
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Reality High School, pp. 431 - 447
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This Scientific World, pp. 448 - 453
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Engineering, pp. 454-457
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The Humanities, pp. 458 - 473
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Letter to Professor Feynman, pp. 474 - 483
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Architecture, pp. 484 - 498
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Language, pp. 499 - 510
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Peter Schorer's essay, "Notes Toward a Pragmatics-Based Linguistics",
on the web site www.occampress.com, is derived from ideas in this chapter.

Instant French, pp. 511 - 526
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Manifesto of a New Movement in American Literature, pp. 527 - 535
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Literature and Art, pp. 536 - 600
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Additional Thoughts, pp. 601 - 634
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Additional Thoughts (cont.), pp. 635 - 685
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Comedy Notebook, pp. 686 - 700
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Index, pp. 701 - 747
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“Nostalgia for the Avant-Garde” and Other Stories

Title Page, 2 pages
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Title Page
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Preface, 2 pages
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A House in Canyon, 6 pages
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A Walk by the Beach, 3 pages
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A French-looking House, 4 pages
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A Brain Operation, 4 pages
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A Run at Evening, 2 pages
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All Watched Over By..., 7 pages
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The Twins´ House, 7 pages
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Somewhere in the Present, 3 pages
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The Convalescent, 3 pages
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The Companion, 5 pages
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Where We Live, 2 pages
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Genius without Genius:
The Autobiography of John Franklin
Vol 1: Childhood through "The Music Days"

This is the first of five volumes. A Chronology of the author's life follows the Preface. A Photo Album will be found at the end of Vol. 5.

Vol. 1 describes the author's childhood in a small commuter town some twenty miles from New York City in Westchester County, and then the period he calls "The Music Days," from age 16 through age 23, when he played trumpet in, and then led, several jazz groups, playing at colleges and universities throughout the Northeast, and at several jazz clubs in New York City.

Note: the reader should not feel that he or she is faced with a choice between reading the entire book, or reading none of it. The author has made every effort to enable the reader to locate those parts that might be of interest – major topics for each chapter are listed, and then to the left of the text for each chapter are extensive subtitles that will further aid the reader to find sections of interest.

Title page, epigraphs
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Preface
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Chronology of the Author's Life
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Chapter 1 -- Birth, the Village of Valhalla, Neighbors, My Father, My Mother
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Chapter 2 -- Meals, Restaurants, Sundays, Baby Sitters, My Parents' Friends, The Outsider, Games and Sports
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Chapter 3 -- The Four Seasons, The Kids, Making Things, Radio, Movies
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Chapter 4 -- School Band, Playing Solos, Classical Music, Boogie-Woogie, First Paying Job as a Musician, Planes and Parachutes, Comic Books, School, "He Has to Wear Glasses," Fireworks
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Chapter 5 -- Summer Camp, Vacations in Cape Cod, War, Rationing, Warplanes, The War as Presented on the Radio, Rumors of Real Guns Around the Reservoir, A Trip to Switzerland, The Death of My Father
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Chapter 6 -- Music Days (1): Briarcliff High School
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Chapter 7 -- Music Days (2): White Plains High School
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Chapter 8 -- Music Days (3): Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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Chapter 9 -- Music Days (4): Lehigh University
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-- Music Days (4) (cont.): Lehigh University
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Appendix 1 -- High School Essay
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Genius without Genius:
The Autobiography of John Franklin
Vol. 2: Early Years in California

This volume describes the author's first job in a Silicon Valley firm, where he rapidly rose to be the manager of a small technical publications department, and then describes jobs with subsequent firms. It also describes his home life and the childhood of his son.

Chapter 1 -- Working at Beckman Instruments; Sailplane Days
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Chapter 2 -- Marriage and a Home; Working at Signetics; My Son's Childhood: Birth to Age 3
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Genius without Genius:
The Autobiography of John Franklin
Vol. 3: Working at Hewlett-Packard (HP)

This volume describes the author's experiences as a programmer and then a technical writer at HP during the seventies and eighties. It also describes his adventures in the single life following his divorce, his decision to work on the most difficult technical problems he could find, the publication of his first book, and the teenage years of his son.

Chapter 1 -- Joining Hewlett-Packard, Reading and Self-Teaching, The Free University, I Become a Programmer
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-- My Son's Childhood: Ages 3-7, I Go For a Master's Degree
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-- Divorce, Sex Therapy, In Pursuit of Women
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Chapter 2 -- Working at HP Labs
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-- Working at HP Labs (cont.)
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Genius without Genius:
The Autobiography of John Franklin
Vol 4: Freelancing, and Working at Sybase

This volume describes the author's life after leaving HP in the early nineties, including his work at Sybase on what was intended to be a revolutionary new data base product, but which turned out to anything but that. The volume includes descriptions of some of the women in the author's life, and the remarkable early financial success of his son. It concludes with the near loss of his inheritance to a crooked lawyer.

Chapter 1 -- Depression and Thoughts of Suicide, My Son the Currency Trader, Living in Berkeley, Fighting City Hall
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-- An Academic Lady, My First Book Published By a Real Publisher, Young Women Housemates: Musicians and Bohemians
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-- I Attempt a Palace Coup at Sybase, I Almost Lose My Inheritance
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-- Academics, A Painless Dentist at Last, Chantal
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Genius without Genius:
The Autobiography of John Franklin
Vol 5: Retirement, Or Finally Getting Down to Business

This volume describes the author's early retirement (at age 59) and his determination to complete the nine books that constitute his life's work. The volume includes a description of the death of the author's mother.

Chapter 1 -- End of Working For My Inferiors, Break with Heim, The Saints are Reunited, Helped By an Eccentric Mathematician, I Was Meant to Be an Amateur
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-- Finally Ms. Right, Death of My Mother, I Almost Lose My Life Savings, Death of Kay
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-- Break With Jason, What Happened to People I Knew, Math Wars, The Future, Last Wishes
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Photo Album
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E-mail John Franklin: JohnFranklin6364@cs.com

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