Translating, mathematics, and clowns.

The Secret of Mirages, published in December 2009, explains and questions the traditional scientific theories of the creation of mirages and proposes a plausible new theory.
This book means a lot to us for different reasons. We were fortunate enough to be asked to do the English translation and, through our work, got to know the author, Lluís Raluy quite well. Although Lluís has published several books relating to physics and mathematics, his “day job” is not the first one to come to mind. He is in fact a clown (and part-owner) of the traditional Catalan circus, Circ Raluy. The Raluy family has been involved in circuses for over 70 years, running their own one – with its home-base a mere 10km from us here in the south of Catalonia - since the 1970s. Translating the book, working with Lluís, ringside circus tickets and meeting him in his 1930s circus caravan was an unforgettable experience.

The Secret of Mirages has been published in English, Catalan, and Spanish, and is available from the Cinctorres Club publishing house.

The text from the book’s back cover:
Day in day out, Lluís Raluy Tomas, the clown, steps out into the circus ring bringing joy to young and old alike. Lluís’s deep sensitivity can be seen in his painting and music. At the same time, behind the seemingly careless appearance he offers us off-stage, we can find a privileged mind with an ability for mathematical thinking and didactic explanations rarely found among others in this field.
This book is proof of this. Cinctorres has already published an earlier fundamental work of the author in English: An ingenious theory of Space and Time. At present a second edition of another book, also translated into English, is being prepared: The scope of prime numbers - Their structure and distribution - The Goldbach conjecture.