1) Maths is a fantastic subject. You ought to learn it.
I was never particularly good at maths. I still recall never being able to get my head around adding (or was it multiplying?) fractions, and having to go up to Mrs Moody to have her explain it to me. This was a particularly unusual circumstance for ten- or eleven-year-old me, since I *never* asked for help with anything to do with schoolwork.
I’ve been hit twice today by the majesty of numbers, by their capacity to throw up surprising results that fly in the face of all expectations.
The first time was when I was working through some simultaneous equations earlier. Nothing special there, until something happened that made me very nervous about pursuing any future career in economics, illustrating to me what a disaster could ensue by the very smallest slip-up in my modelling.
By John Barrowman
I love books on the history of mathematics. I have books that look at infinity, e, π. Interesting one and all, and I’ve been holding out for one on zero for a while. (more…)
