Integral calculus, differential calculus and then differential equations: D, D, F...and a change in major from Chemistry to Political Science. Cars, beer and cute girls trended toward the philosophical rather than the mathematical.
Calculus isn't that hard, it just requires a different way of looking at things. I taught myself calculus my senior year of high school. I didn't get into the harder math (partial differentials, vectors and tensors, topology, and complex variables) until college. Most people can learn calculus if they learn to adjust their viewpoint of reality.
I never could follow those epsilon-delta arguments. Later, a physics prof told me not to worry about mathematical rigor, because as far as he was concerned, the calculus was just higher arithmetic; You don't have to know exactly how it works, except sometimes in weird cases.
WV: guessein. How did they know how I did my math homework?
Now, what's harder than understanding the calculus is understanding statistics. I don't claim to do that; I flunked the only statistics course I ever took.
I betcha there are lotsa people who don't understand statistics any better than I do, but don't let that stop them. I am thinking of the global warmists, the people in charge of fiscal and monetary policy in my country, the unlimited illegal-immigrationists, the sillier sort of Libertarians, the blank-slaters, the feminists, and etc. and usw.
People who are actually good at math in general and at statistics in particular have told all of those people from time to time, I believe, that their heads are full of stinky dog poo, to put it in an artistic way.
Real statisticians show their calculations. I mostly can't follow them, but they are out there. Open source, man!
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Recreational calculus problems...whooo-eee! We know how to party!
ReplyDeleteIntegral calculus, differential calculus and then differential equations: D, D, F...and a change in major from Chemistry to Political Science. Cars, beer and cute girls trended toward the philosophical rather than the mathematical.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta love Martin Gardner!
ReplyDelete... I'm goin' back to bed...
ReplyDeleteI barely got past the first two sentences before I had the same urge.
Calculus is the main reason my blog isn't named "A Day In The Life Of An Emergency Physician."
*made* easy?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you guys: Slope = 0.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are all wimps. That was a beautifully done, clear as a bell, text!
ReplyDeleteJust look at the pictures and write down what they tell you.
Calculus isn't that hard, it just requires a different way of looking at things.
ReplyDeleteI taught myself calculus my senior year of high school. I didn't get into the harder math (partial differentials, vectors and tensors, topology, and complex variables) until college. Most people can learn calculus if they learn to adjust their viewpoint of reality.
I never could follow those epsilon-delta arguments. Later, a physics prof told me not to worry about mathematical rigor, because as far as he was concerned, the calculus was just higher arithmetic; You don't have to know exactly how it works, except sometimes in weird cases.
ReplyDeleteWV: guessein. How did they know how I did my math homework?
So, what were y'all's Freshman Calc textbooks? Mine was Protter and Morrey, back in '68.
ReplyDeleteWV: phystran. Hey, we haven't mentioned Zoe Brain here, yet! She is good at physics, though.
Now, what's harder than understanding the calculus is understanding statistics. I don't claim to do that; I flunked the only statistics course I ever took.
ReplyDeleteI betcha there are lotsa people who don't understand statistics any better than I do, but don't let that stop them. I am thinking of the global warmists, the people in charge of fiscal and monetary policy in my country, the unlimited illegal-immigrationists, the sillier sort of Libertarians, the blank-slaters, the feminists, and etc. and usw.
People who are actually good at math in general and at statistics in particular have told all of those people from time to time, I believe, that their heads are full of stinky dog poo, to put it in an artistic way.
Real statisticians show their calculations. I mostly can't follow them, but they are out there. Open source, man!
Learning now in progress.
ReplyDeleteWhat sucks is having to go back and review some of the more basic stuff, because it's been 15 years since I needed most of it.