Prologue

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Prologue xi
4. Act I
5. 1. IDENTITY ELEMENTS 3
6. 2. DAZZLING NEW WORLD 10
7. 3. GYMNASTICS 19
8. 4. CALCULATE THE STARS 43
9. 5. NERDISH DELIGHTS 57
10. 6. THE VOW 83
11. Act II
12. 7. RELIGION 103
13. 8. CRITERIA OF VIRTUE 109
14. 9. CHARACTER ASSASSINATION 128
15. 10. SNIP, CLIP, PRUNE, LOP 171
16. 11. DOTTO & COMPANY 216
17. 12. TRUTH BEAUTY, BEAUTY TRUTH 241
18. Act III
19. 13. MORTALITY FLASH 271
20. 14. OPTIONAL PROBABILITY FIELDS 282
21. 15. LUSTRATION 320
22. 16. TAKE IT AS AXIOMATIC 334
23. 17. HUMPTY DUMPTY’S PREROGATIVE 351
24. Epilogue 375
25. Appendix A. On Morley’s Trisector Theorem 393
26. Appendix B. The Lexicode Dictionary 394
27. Appendix C. Surreally 396
28. Author’s note 403
29. Acknowledgments 405
30. A select Conway bibliography 409
31. Bibliography 413
32. Notes 423
33. Epigraph and art credits 439
34. Index 441