I scored a 99 on the written portion, 96 on reading, and 28 on math. So I’m placing out of freshman comp and taking introductory algebra. I plan to get an associate degree in Spanish and take one math course each semester until I hit a brick wall. If I can tear down that wall I’ll pursue a degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences, which will require biology, chemistry, physics and calculus. If I run into a mathematical brick wall I’ll pursue a degree in American Studies with a concentration in Environment, Science and Technology.
Congratulations on your decision and good scores, fotobits!
Keep moving forward, ever forward!
Important:Make sure that your professors are helpful to you by answering
your questions about the course work. If they are not, then maybe
another school has professors who are helpful.
Ugh fotobits, you break my heart when you talk about a brick wall
pursuing math! You sound like another victim of the bad way that
math is taught in K-12, sadly that is true for the first couple of
years of college too.
Math should be the simplest subject though, because the elementary
mathematics is so logical and the proofs are right there in class.
What could be easier, right?
Don’t let calculus scare you, it is not a scary subject either.
Everybody learned to calculate the area of a rectangle as length
× height, that’s easy. But your teachers skipped telling you
how to calculate the areas of those funny curves (parabolas,
sines, etc.). At its core, integration is a technique to
calculate the area underneath a function (such as those curves).
Integration is one of the techniques in calculus.
Integration: Imagine approximating the area under a curve
with a group of slim tall rectangles which reach down to the
horizontal axis and up to the curve. The more slim that the
rectangles are then the more precise the approximation will be.
Calculating thousands of these rectangles underneath the curve
would give a quite precise result but is laborious; it turns
out that after thousands of years of mathematical proofs using
this and other techniques there have been discovered some simple
patterns in how you can convert (integrate) a formula to arrive
at the same result as the rectangle technique. It turns out that
these patterns are a faster and more precise technique, than the
labor of calculating thousands of rectangles. The resulting
area is exact when you use the modern conversions rather than
the ancient laborious rectangle technique. Calculus class teaches
you the modern conversions of integration.
There are more techniques and possibilities than just integration,
but that is at the heart of the matter. That’s not scary is it?
This is some of the work that Archamedes, Sir Issac Newton, and
Leibniz did, at the heart of their great genius and achievement,
and you can learn that genius too! Don’t you want to know?
As a simple example integration:
dy = ∫(x^2)dx = (x^3)/3 + C
1. Surround the formula with Leibniz’ notation (the differential
of y and x; also the elongated S), indicating that we intend
2. Increment the exponent of x.
3. Copy that exponent downward, placing it as a denominator of x.
4. Add the constant of integration (C).
5. Remove Leibniz’ notation once we write the rightmost side of
the equation, we are done integrating.
The impact that calculus has had on our daily lives is huge!
It is such a large part the basis of the great technological boon
that we live in. And its future potential is unlimited!
But Newton was not really a mathematician, he was more of an
alchemist (the turning lead to gold stuff), and so the math was
just a tool to him, one that he took farther than anyone else
had before. That playful curious creativity should be at the
heart of all math classes. He wanted to know the
areas (slopes and other qualities) about objects flying through
the air and other physics. Mathematics was the tool to get him
to his answers, with precision. So, if you pursue physics, or
engineering, they teach you to learn mathematics as a tool to solve
real world problems, which is the appropriate way for many to learn
mathematics and the way that everyone is complaining about missing.
There are people who care only about pure mathematics without
application, they are the people who pursue a Ph.d. in mathematics.
But most of us do not do that.
Since most of us don’t want to have a Ph.d. in mathematics, that
creates a conflict that is at the heart of all math classes in the
USA, and at the heart of the reason why people complain about math.
Most people don’t see the great science of math as an end to
itself, instead they want to see it applied to real world problems.
This is part of what scientists and engineers do in their work.
Math is NOT about endless repetition and memorization, but is really
about creative expression, experimentation, playful discovery, and
precise analysis. It is the language of science and engineering.
Of course, if you want to pursue the spoken languages, then they
don’t seem to want to do any math at the undergraduate level,
so you won’t be given any exposure to this topic if you prefer.
Language is a fine subject, I just think that people should be
aware of their options.
Great decision fotobits!... but I am currently halfway thru my semester with a 3.9GPA and I already have 5 classes under my belt at the age of 30. I realized there is no greater satisfaction in life than quenching the thirst for knowledge. I don’t think I will ever stop studying because I now feel that education is a life-long quest, not a 2, 4 or 8-year journey.
Congratulations tcm92678. We grow is size from child to adult,
but the growth doesn’t need to stop there, and can continue by
growing in knowledge!