12th December 2006
We all know how annoying and vexing the common cold virus can be, particularly during the winter season. Nobody likes that runny nose or that constant urge to sneeze; nor is the coughing, headache, or scratchy throat anything to write home about. To avo...
11th December 2006
So you love to write and you found out about submitting articles on the worldwide web. You ask yourself whether you can actually get good exposure from spending time writing articles and whether it’s worth the effort. After all, like me, you’re a no...
08th December 2006
Labor Day is fast approaching and you can almost smell the students at the front door of your classroom. Another year and another sixty or so Algebra I students to grapple with. And although the first few weeks might go fine, you know that as you hit th...
07th December 2006
Why is math so hard to teach and why are there so few good math teachers? Whether you are a student, parent, or yes—even a math teacher—you know how true this question is. Effective math teaching requires more than just a good handle on the subject. ...
06th December 2006
Mathematics has a way of taking us by the hand and not just leading us down the path of reason, as Pythagoras once said, but sometimes down the path of insanity. With all the beautiful truths that math can show us, there are also inherent contradictions ...
06th December 2006
When I contemplate the title of this article, I enter a reverie which catapults me back twenty-five years to my college days. Back then, I learned how hard mathematics was. Often I felt inferior to tackle such a difficult subject with my limited brain c...
06th December 2006
Nothing smarts so much as when the world gives you a good butt-kicking. Nobody—not even the rich and famous—are immune to such occasional whippings. But the rich, famous, and highly successful have their riches, fame, and financial success to lean b...
06th December 2006
Writing has always been a favorite pastime of mine. When I discovered article writing a year ago, the means for expressing myself as well as the ability to share my knowledge with others became possible. This open forum has created a dialogue with my re...
06th December 2006
When I decided to become a mathematics major in college, I knew that in order to complete this degree, two of the required courses—besides advanced calculus—were Probability Theory and Math 52, which was statistics. Although probability was a course ...
06th December 2006
Calculus does have its limits. Indeed. In order to understand the pun of the first sentence, you need to know that calculus has two key branches: differential and integral. Although the concept of limit belongs to both branches and is an essential comp...
06th December 2006
As part of a subcategory within my “Why Study Math” series, I am pleased to introduce a new group or articles that will touch upon some of the higher branches of mathematics. The purpose of these writings will be to introduce people—particularly th...
06th December 2006
Oh, that field of math. Don’t you just love to hate it? Yet you have to admit that when someone explains some of its beauty to you and you get it, you marvel at how amazing a field it actually is.
Such is the case with number sequences and in partic...
06th December 2006
"A mathematician who is not also something of a poet will never be a complete mathematician." -- Karl Weierstrass
C’mon a mathematician who’s a poet! Give me a break. Isn’t that as compatible as a snake and a mongoose? You mean there really is...
06th December 2006
There’s an old joke about two schoolboys that basically goes as follows: Johnny, one of the boys, would go off to school every morning, and as he left his mother would yell, “Johnny, don’t forget your lunch!” The other boy, Steven, would go off, ...
06th December 2006
In this complex world of technological gadgetry, we run at a pace which would make our ancestors blush at the thought. Faxes are not even fast enough as we have email which is instantaneous. And no matter that you are not at your computer because many ce...
