Pages 53-60

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 54

54.25 Poisson Distribution/Equation
"In probability theory and statistics, the Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a number of events occurring in a fixed period of time if these events occur with a known average rate and independently of the time since the last event."

For the purpose of comprehension, all that needs to be understood of this distribution is that, given a mean success rate, one can use the distribution to predict the probability of a number of successes other than the mean (here the rocket strikes), when success is very unlikely, but inevitable given a large number of events. (This concept recurs on pp. 55, 56, 85, 140, 171, 270.)
To learn more, check out the Wikipedia article quoted above: Poisson Distribution at Wikipedia

Poisson distribution. (2008, September 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:45, September 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Poisson_distribution&oldid=237707448

Page 55

Whittaker and Watson
Whittaker and Watson is the informal name of a book formally entitled A Course of Modern Analysis. Read the whole thing if you want!: http://books.google.com/books?id=_hoPAAAAIAAJ

Page 57

...she gives him her Fay Wray look...

Fay Wray played the heroine, Ann Darrow, in the 1933 film King Kong. So the look Jess gives Roger must've been something like this.

Page 59

59.01-02 Frank Bridge Variations
The "Frank Bridge Variations" is a composition ("Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge," Opus 10, 1937) by Benjamin Britten, named after one of his teachers. It was one of Britten's first works to win international notice.