The Harper's Index Book

Gathered from the ""Harper's Index'' column in Harper's magazine, these facts are presented in stark language and frequently startle the reader: ``Portion of personal mail sent in 1985 that consisted of greeting cards: .'' Others capture the drifting tide of cultural events: ``Number of radio stations with a disco format today: 0.'' Numbers are combined in way to make eerie juxtapositions: ``Pounds of plutonium and highly enriched uranium that are missing from U.S. inventories: 9,600 pounds. Pounds of plutonium needed to make an atomic bomb: 15.'' Some baffle: ``Number of `telephone-related' injuries in 1985: 11,000.'' As Harper's editor Lapham notes, these numbers are ``fragmentary proofs of the world's density, wonder, contradictions, and desire.'' (June)