Catalogue of the Public Library of Evansville, 1876

No fires, no fighting. Now, everything is running smoothly- almost too smoothly. Actually, what bothers me is that I know what I should be doing. I need to guarantee that the current situation will con- tinue, that things are thought out in advance so fires will not break out. But this means finding the answer to Jonah's question. I stand up and leave. On my way out I say to Fran, "In the unlikely event that anyone needs me, I'll be at the public library." "Enough for today," I say and close the book. I stand up and stretch, "Julie, join me for a cup of tea?" "Good idea, I'll be with you in a minute." 322 "You're really into it," I comment as she joins me at the kitchen table. "Yeah, it's fascinating." I hand her a steaming cup. "What can be so fascinating about ancient Greek philosophy?" I wonder aloud. "It's not what you think," she laughs. "These dialogues of Socrates are really interesting." "If you say so," I don't try to disguise my skepticism. "Alex, your perceptions are all wrong, it's not at all like what you think." "So what is it?" I ask. "Well, It's hard to explain," she hedges. "Why don't you try to read them yourself?" "Maybe one day I will," I say, "but for the moment I've enough reading to do." She takes a sip from her cup. "Did you find what you're looking for?" "Not exactly," I admit. "Reading popular science books doesn't lead you directly to management techniques ...»