I've been thinking and doing more about learning math and less about posting during the past week. Even though I did well on the last test, this week, I felt like I was falling behind.
I spent way too much time at the computer doing practice exercises.
As a result, I now get it about "rational expressions and functions" and "complex rational expressions" and "rational equations" and "division of polynomials."
We have a test on Monday covering all that plus factoring and inequalities.
I'm doing and understanding things that I didn't even know existed back at the end of August. I'm enjoying that, but just so that it doesn't go to my head, Seth reminds me that I am working on about the same stuff that his high school freshmen and sophomores are doing in his classes. However, I point out to him, they are the smart freshmen and sophomores. The ones that aren't in his classes are taking this same stuff with me as high school freshmen.
Just to turn up the pressure, everyone taking Pima College math 122 got an email telling us that if we don't get a "C" or better in this class, we won't be eligible to enroll in college algebra at the University of Arizona.
Perfectionism (not)
As the numbers or equations or functions get more and more intimidating, or at least scarier looking, I'm actually understanding what I need to so. I can set problems up and I know what has to go where, but still, too often, I mess up my arithmetic. I'm not sure I'm getting any better at that.
I've never been a perfectionist and never needed to be. Generally, I think it is a waste of time. You can get lots more done if everything you do doesn't have to be perfect. But in math, it seems to matter. I'm wondering (hoping?) if you get beyond a certain point, it stops mattering, and how you approach a problem matters more. That's one of the reasons I'm curious about calculus. I don't know anything at all about calculus, but in imagining, it doesn't seem that it is precise, that it can give one right answer. Otherwise, why would they need it? Or, I wonder whether most people who use calculus believe an outcome to be the one right answer based on faith rather than fact. I can't wait to find out in a couple of years.
A fun book
I've come across another book (recommended by Marcy, my UA math advisor). It's called The Joy of Mathematics: Discovering Mathematics All Around You
. It contains 228 bite sized stories about things you might or might not have been curious about, all from a mathematical perspective.Things I'm not doing
I called my aunt, Harriet Rochlin, to wish her a happy 85th birthday. She is finishing a book about Jewish women. She has speaking commitments. She has an ongoing research agenda. She says she doesn't have a moment to just reflect and says he hopes that someday she will.
The more I get into this math adventure, the more I feel my list of things to do grow. Mostly little things, some bigger. Here's what I need to do, but haven't (just about this small part of my life):
1. Work on a book proposal about math for journalists.
2. Think about a book about a complete beginner learning about math.
3. Write to Prof. Saari to ask about all kinds of things, and just get a correspondence going.
4. Thank Dr. Jerry for having lunch with me and sharing his story. And ask him whether we could have a formal interview sometime so I can get details on tape and share them with you.
5. Email Prof. Velez to ask for a visit or lunch to talk about math
6. Email Prof. Alexander to ask whether he would be willing to share his story about how a submarine commander became a math professor.
7. Thank Marcy again for visiting with me and being such a good advisor.
8. Get accepted to the University of Arizona again so I can sign up for Math 112, college algebra, for spring semester.
9. Read The Joy of Mathematics
10. Read How to Lie with Statistics
11. Read Math Tools for Journalists
12. Read Numbers in the Newsroom
13. Learn more about my fancy HP calculator
14. And Post to this Blog more frequently
Then, there is tomorrow's test to prepare for.
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