Cripes, it's been forever.
I apparently suck at blogging, but really for the most part I'm writing this for the ability to look back at it 3 years down the line when I'm pulling all-nighters and banging my head against math problems, and to say "Ohhh...so that's how I got here." So the intermittent posts will continue...with hopefully far less inter.
And speaking of banging my head against math problems, it turns out that's both the means and the end. I had noticed a disturbing trend in my head, wherein I had a strong tendency to just skip equations while reading. I really had to work to take them in - even if I was capable of working them out and understanding what they meant.
To remedy this, I decided that math and I would become best friends. Back when I was 5, Reading used to be a slow, plodding process that required directed attention - and now it's one of my favorite leisure activities. Eventually, I want math to be the same way. I have picked up a copy of "Calculus made easy: being a Very-Simplest Introduction to Those Beautiful Methods of Reckoning Which Are Generally Called by the Terrifying Names of the Differential calculus and the Integral calculus". It rocks.
Seriously, this is hands down the best math book I've ever seen, and while I realize that's not necessarily saying that much, it manages to make calculus not only easy, but appealing. I've started to find myself working out problems on the way home in the subway after a night out drinking...and I've had far less difficulty than I thought putting aside my 2-3 hours a day of reading papers and replacing it with a couple hours of mathematics.
Even though I've already learned everything in this book, usually twice over, I'm going through every example and every exercise, trying to drill this stuff in until it becomes fun. Wish me luck.
And speaking of banging my head against math problems, it turns out that's both the means and the end. I had noticed a disturbing trend in my head, wherein I had a strong tendency to just skip equations while reading. I really had to work to take them in - even if I was capable of working them out and understanding what they meant.
To remedy this, I decided that math and I would become best friends. Back when I was 5, Reading used to be a slow, plodding process that required directed attention - and now it's one of my favorite leisure activities. Eventually, I want math to be the same way. I have picked up a copy of "Calculus made easy: being a Very-Simplest Introduction to Those Beautiful Methods of Reckoning Which Are Generally Called by the Terrifying Names of the Differential calculus and the Integral calculus". It rocks.
Seriously, this is hands down the best math book I've ever seen, and while I realize that's not necessarily saying that much, it manages to make calculus not only easy, but appealing. I've started to find myself working out problems on the way home in the subway after a night out drinking...and I've had far less difficulty than I thought putting aside my 2-3 hours a day of reading papers and replacing it with a couple hours of mathematics.
Even though I've already learned everything in this book, usually twice over, I'm going through every example and every exercise, trying to drill this stuff in until it becomes fun. Wish me luck.
posted by PredictionsOfMemory | 5:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home