标签: calculus

Teaching any kind of math beyond basic arithmetic is not necessary. That's my reading of a piece written by G.V. Ramanathan, professor emeritus of mathematics, statistics and computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He wrote that math just isn't important , and we should stop teaching, well, he doesn't really say what.   He disputes a new-new math that tries to make the subject more accessible, and at one point writes: " There are even calculus textbooks showing how to calculate—I am not making this up and in fact I taught from such a book—the rate at which the fluid level in a martini glass will go down ." Well, that's hardly new; after leaving the Navy when WWII ended my dad went to MIT to study mechanical engineering. As a kid he told me about how his professor gave them nearly the identical problem. I remember thinking "geez, calculus sounds like fun!" It is, and I eventually went on to study far more than was required for an EE degree.   Another juicy quote: " Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life ." How often do you get into a water cooler discussion about dialectical materialism or John Donne's 17 th Meditation? These are subjects one studies to be a rounded person. As is math. Donne's piece is beautiful. As is calculating the volume of a sphere using a triple integral. Do I use abstract algebra in my life? Never. Am I glad I took the class? You betcha.   How often do we EEs use calculus? In my career only a handful of times. But when my son had to learn it in high school he warned me he'd need help. I helped him learn both the math and the stunning beauty of how one can solve a problem in a number of ways and always get the same answer. Now he's a physicist. So, yes, calculus is important in everyday life, if there's value to helping one's kids learn and succeed.   Math – like literature, history, politics and music – shapes how we think. These subjects alter the way we perceive and understand the world. You can't grok Serbia without some grounding in the history of the Balkans. Similarly, much of the public is deluded about a range of subjects due to their incompetence in statistics. Sure, people get by without understanding these subjects, but I think their lives are somewhat diminished as a result. As is mine for a persistent inability to like opera.   " As for the rest, there is no obligation to love math any more than grammar, composition, curfew or washing up after dinner ." The statement is true; the inference false. There is no obligation to love math, grammar or even your spouse. But such love improves one's life. Even if you hate (for instance) grammar, abandoning it brands you uneducated and unemployable in many jobs.   It's sad that a so-called educator demeans education. We need a highly-educated work force now more than ever, and S.T.E.M. needs to be a core component. More worrisome is Professor Ramanathan's indifference to the joy and importance of learning in general.

Do you recall my blog from a couple of weeks ago in which I posed three puzzles for us to ponder? One involved a horizontally-mounted cylindrical gasoline (petrol) tank on a tractor-trailer (truck). Assuming the fuel gauge is broken and you are using a stick so see how much fuel you have left, it would be easy to place full and 1/2 full marks on the stick, but where would you place the 1/4 and 3/4 full marks?   It may be that this could be solved using geometry, but in my heart of hearts I'm sure calculus will come into play before I'm very much older. When I was at college 30+ years ago I could have done this in the shower whilst hopping up and down on one leg with one arm tied behind my back and whistling "Dixie" (if you see what I mean). Now I don't have a clue. Bummer!   But all is not lost, because I recently received a catalog from a company called The Great Courses ( www.TheGreatCourses.co.uk in the United Kingdom; www.TheGreatCourses.com.au in Australia; and www.TheGreatCourses.com in the USA and other countries). Each course comprises a bunch of DVDs containing anywhere from 24 to 48 lectures, where each lecture is 30-minutes or 45-minute in length. I've seen these catalogs before, but I've never taken the plunge (I don't know how they got my name, but it's nice that they keep on thinking about me). In the blurb in the catalog they say:   These are college-level courses taught by only the most engaging professors that universities like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown have to offer.   We identify the top 1% of college professors based on teaching awards, published evaluations, newspaper write-ups, and other sources. Only those professors who score highly on customers' review of auditions are chosen for The Great Courses.   Our courses are not merely recorded – they are crafted, designed from beginning to end to meet the needs of lifelong learners like you.   The proof of these claims is in each of our courses. We asked an independent company to survey 3,600 of our customers and ask them to rate our courses on a 10-point customer satisfaction scale, with 10 being "extremely satisfied." The average score? An 8.97 out of 10.   Most publishing companies don't guarantee their work. We do. Every Great Course comes with our Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee. If a course is anything short of completely satisfying, you can return it for another course or for a full refund. No questions asked.   You must admit that this sounds rather good. Of course, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating," as the old saying goes. Also I was tempted by the fact that there's currently a sale on (I can't resist a bargain), so I ordered three courses to see for myself...   #1 The Joy of Mathematics 24 Lectures (30 Minutes/Lecture) Sale price $39.95 (Regular price $254.95)   #2 Change and Motion: Calculus Made Clear 24 Lectures (30 Minutes/Lecture) Sale price $39.95 (Regular price $254.95)   #3 The Story of Human Language 36 Lectures (30 Minutes/Lecture) Sale price $54.95 (Regular price $374.95)   They arrived recenty and I cannot wait to dive into the fray with gusto and abandon. The great thing is that I can do this while sitting in the family room with my wife and son. They can be watching TV (wrestling and monster trucks for my wife and some sloppy ladies channel for my son... or maybe it's the other way around) and I can be reveling in my Great Courses DVDs on my computer while wearing headphones.   I shall report back in detail after I've viewed each course ... watch this space!