[Doug]

Most folks ponder "The meaning of it all" at some point in their life.

Occasionally there comes an eloquent presentation from some discipline or another (math, physics, philosophy, biology, Law, history, social science) that provides insight into how a particular *ology can lend description to the wonders of it all.
In the process, the benefits and foibles of using that particular discipline are displayed in the pursuit of application and understanding.

One particularly enjoyable treatise on Physics may be interesting to you.

The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics
Gary Zukav (<-- author is neither a Mathematician nor Physicist but can knit an enlightening fabric with words)

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Wow Thanks!

[Cold Titanium]

Wow Thanks!

[Doug]

[CompooterDummy]

Haha. I always found it funny how ZERO was such a hard number to figure out.

"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

[Chopin]

Hah. Zero is, well, an enigma.

Seriously (wow, I just had to type that three times to spell it right) though, math is awesome

[Cold Titanium]

math is awesome

[whining]My entire family and everyone else I know doesn't care for, or HATES math. Nor do they care much about computers, just as long as it will play their games and "do internet" they are happy.[/whining]

Edited by Cold Titanium, 10 June 2009 - 02:15 PM.

[mpascal]

Everyone in my family has or is going for degrees in the biology/chemistry field.. Except me.

I'm a mathie

Well Math/CS major to be more specific, but it's still pretty crazy I'm the only one in my family interested in math.

[PedroDaGR8]

Everyone in my family has or is going for degrees in the biology/chemistry field.. Except me.

I'm a mathie

Well Math/CS major to be more specific, but it's still pretty crazy I'm the only one in my family interested in math.

Heh,one of my closest friends was a Physics/CS major initially, then realized with 3 or so classes he would have a major in math as well. So he ended up majoring in Phyics/CS/Math and graduated with a 4.0 (where an A or A+ = 4.0, A- = 3.75 or something like that). Now he works for microsoft.

[Cold Titanium]

I'm a mathie

I'd have never guessed, your avatar gives no clue.

[Chopin]

<offtopic>Pi is awesome! I can memorize 41 digits </offtopic>

[Cold Titanium]

42

Which by the way, is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Kidding I'm rusty on Pi period. Although I do enjoy apple pie.

Edited by Cold Titanium, 16 June 2009 - 08:42 PM.

[nates_tips]

I'm really good with pie.

Eating that is.

No but really, I loved π. It was my only favorite problem in the whole book, seriously!

[Troy]

Haha. I always found it funny how ZERO was such a hard number to figure out.

[attachment=31362:a_61.jpg]

[mpascal]

It's true, if you try dividing by zero the center of the Earth becomes a black hole

[Roman Pope]

For starters, you have good teachers. It is impossible to understand without knowing. I mean, just giving strategies how to pass is bad. Let's face it, if I explain how to derive simple polynomials to a third grader; honestly, he will probably do it better then me. At the same time, sometimes you have to do hundreds of examples until the train though begins to run smoothly.
It's like about that question with negative numbers. I mean, if you really think about it - they don't exist! People were having a hard time to accept something "negative" until like 14th century. With modern economy, we are all pretty much used to something of a "negative" quantity. Same applies with complex numbers. I mean, in my domain, we use them all the time; they make electrical engineers life so much easier. It becomes trivial, so I can focus on other things. I mean, if you would stop and focus on the fact that root of two doesn't exist every time you solve a quadratic - you wouldn't get far.

PS Hm... I don't know to be honest. I am pretty sure there is something fishy about this whole Pi idea... seems a bit artificial to me. Nature almost never creates perfect circles... maybe because too many people talk about it? My dentist seem to know a bit more, so he always starts by Pi, then mentions the golden ration and finishes with complex numbers and how it is all bizarre... the conversation typically ends with something like: "e is the way to go if you ask me."

Edited by Roman Pope, 28 June 2009 - 12:37 AM.