August 28, 2006
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3 is a magic number
Leonhard Euler (1707 – 1783):
If a nonnegative quantity was so small that it is smaller than any given one, then it certainly could not be anything but zero. To those who ask what the infinitely small quantity in mathematics is, we answer that it is actually zero. Hence there are not so many mysteries hidden in this concept as they are usually believed to be. These supposed mysteries have rendered the calculus of the infinitely small quite suspect to many people. Those doubts that remain we shall thoroughly remove in the following pages, where we shall explain this calculus.
Mathematicians have tried in vain to this day to discover some order in the sequence of prime numbers, and we have reason to believe that it is a mystery into which the human mind will never penetrate.
In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York: McGraw Hill Inc., 1992.[upon losing the use of his right eye]
Now I will have less distraction.
In H. Eves In Mathematical Circles, Boston: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, 1969.I love math. I love numbers. believe it or not, I’m fairly good at them. oddly enough, the whole sudoku thing leaves me cold. I prefer music or poetry, or even reducing algebraic equations. I can’t really say why I don’t like it, just that for me it’s like taking flour and water and making paste… why not go all the way and make pastry?
no offense meant to those who do like it– I simply do not. also, story problems make me apoplectic. It’s not a real story if you don’t supply me with the ending. that’s just effing lazy. if I’m going to write my own story ending it’s not going to be about trains and their speed rates. BO-RING!
Comments (9)
dh loves Sudoku. Only because I can’t do it, so it makes him feel superior to me. Math. who needs it?
Sudoku is to Math like Crossword is to Lit.
I am not a fan of math. Ugh. My son loves it. And Sudoku, nope. Not a fan either.
I don’t do numbers well.
I will use math if it serves a purpose, otherwise… my high school math teacher (she hated my guts, btw), told me that I had the perfect mind to become a mathematician. I actually donkey laughed in her face, I was so surprised. she was serious (and not amused). That’s all fine and good, but there are so many other things that are far more interesting… I know a real mathematician. he was a real freako. nicest guy in the universe, but boy howdy, what a social tard. he’s better now, but he used to talk really….. slow….. If…. you….. asked….. him….. a…. question…. you’d…… better….. have….. a…… lot….. of…. time…..
Sorry…my brain seized at the word “calculus”. I HATE math, but admire people that get it. My dad loves the sudoku thing, and my husband is a math guy, and both of them say sudoku has nothing to do with math. I find that hard to believe, especially when there’s numbers involved. I won’t go near the thing.
I had a tutor tell my parents when I was nine that I’m “afraid of big numbers”…I think that holds true to this day. Math can actually start my anxiety racing in a thousand different direction-mostly “away”….
Word problems are my friends if I can read it then it’s a piece of cake.
Sudoku on the other hand gives me hives…
-M
Stop saying things I think and feel. It makes me feel less unique.
Like, I don’t care about Sudoku either. It’s a boring logic puzzle, not a fun math thing. I don’t begrudge those who enjoy it (heck, I’m a crossword freak), but it does not appeal to me at. all.
And your exorbitant vacation “present”… this is my relationship with #1 PI all over again. To try to even imagine negotiating this with the woman who spawned me… ouch.
And Vincent D’O? I’ve been told I’m “wrong” for my lust for this left-handed hottie, but once again, great minds think alike. And go unappreciated by the remainder.
I can’t do maths at all, I don’t understand the calculus thing of zero you quoted. I can do Sudoko cos I can work things out (I have a very high iq which means that I am good at working iq puzzles out but nothing else and people look at me with wide-open eyes and wonder why I’m such an underachiever).