Qualifications for Quantifying Quality

[Henry]

Has anyone read Stefen Shower's paper?  How does it compare to the paper
that was mentioned recently (of which I'd still LOVE a copy) on quantifying
GR?

http://www.knox.edu/news-sports-and-events/news-archive/july-2008/stefen-sho
wers-08-calculates-thomas-pynchon-novel-for-senior-honors-project.html 

"Showers '08 Calculates Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day for Honors Project 

July 11, 2008

Stefen Showers '08 says his 95 page senior Honors project, "The Mathematics
of Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day," is "semi publishable worthy." He
submitted his abstract through a blind submission and was invited to the
annual Thomas Pynchon convention in Munich Germany in early June. This was
just two days after he walked across the stage at Knox's commencement and
received his diploma. "That convention is one scholarly event where the
audience is fierce,  even if it is small, and I am privileged to go," he
says.

He describes getting the invitation as surreal, and Showers recognizes that
for an undergraduate, the invitation is rare. "There is an interest in the
mathematics and science that goes on in Pynchon's novels, and I think that
my experience in the mathematics realm kind of helps me potentially explain
it to people who are restricted to the literary realm."

Known for his enigmatic writing and mysteriously reclusive lifestyle, Thomas
Pynchon has puzzled readers and critics for years. There are varying
opinions about the symbols and themes found in his books. 

Showers says he believes that Pynchon has had a large impact on American
culture. "He is such an important author. Maybe the most important American
writer that is alive. It is sad that he is not more widely known." 

A math and creative writing major, Showers quantified Pynchon's latest
novel, Against the Day with guidance from his Honors Chair Rob Smith,
associate professor of English at Knox."

Henry Mu
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