Re: Are there any non-gifted scientists?!?!?

From: Der Fugue (bwvbabygotbach_at_netscape.net)
Date: 04/30/04 

Date: 29 Apr 2004 19:22:58 -0700

Ken Pledger <Ken.Pledger@vuw.ac.nz> wrote in message news:<Ken.Pledger-2F3BD3.10234030042004@bats.mcs.vuw.ac.nz>...
> In article <5f6b0df.0404291215.24eaef73@posting.google.com>,
> bwvbabygotbach@netscape.net (Der Fugue) wrote:
>
> > ....
> > Math can be extremely fun when I tackle a hard problem or learn a
> > difficult concept. But at least for me, there's a lot of brutal work
> > necessary leading up to that. You cannot tell me that the classical
> > pianist *loves* playing scales, but he still does it, does he not?
> >
> > My problem is that I often find myself playing scales so-to-speak all
> > day and fail to make considerable progress. Math is a lot more fun if
> > it comes easily to you, namely because you're spending a greater
> > proportion of your time doing fun and interesting things than you are
> > doing endless exercises and reading, re-reading, and re-reading yet
> > again to make sense of something....
>
>
> Yes, practise your scales, but also play some light-hearted things
> to enjoy (Schubert dances?). Perhaps right now you would enjoy reading
> one or two of the very fine overview books which give real insight into
> mathematics. My usual first suggestion is Richard Courant and Herbert
> Robbins, "What is Mathematics?", or one of the little books by W.W.
> Sawyer. Your response to those will tell you something about yourself
> in the mathematical world.
>
> Your original message maintained an earnest conscience, but your
> real love of mathematics and science kept glinting through the chinks.
> Don't stifle it! Your articulateness suggests that you may like to
> learn more about the arts as well, so by all means do that if you have
> the time and interest. Part of the pleasure of mathematics is in seeing
> its relationship with many other areas of human culture (in the broad
> sense of culture, which includes engineering for example).
>
> Don't overlook mathematical statistics. Many people (including
> physicists) have a very shallow idea of what it is. After you know
> enough basic calculus, a good introduction to statistical theory could
> be a real eye-opener in many ways.

Interesting... you're the second (third?) person to bring up
mathematical statistics. Right now I'm taking AP stats at my high
school, and I'm not too fond of the course. 89 first marking period
:-/, although that *was* the 4th highest grade in the class. I've got
the College Board examination for this class on Tuesday, which I
should probably be studying for right now..

My biggest qualm with the curriculum is that it is essentially based a
combination of rote memorization and graphing calculator usage. We do
linear regression on our calculators, for example, but never learn how
to do it by hand. There are a number of rules and procedures that
need to be memorized, but understanding the REASONS for them is
unimportant in the eyes of the College Board. At one point I made it
a priority to actually understand the concepts, but I realized that
simply memorizing them was much more time effective and earned me
better grades on the tests. I really can't blame my teacher (or my
intro textbook) for this, because again, the College Board simply
doesn't think understanding statistics from a mathematical point of
view is important, and with time constraints and such it's just
impractical to expect these concepts to be actually TAUGHT in a
classroom environment.

I'm not very good at solving problems by procedure (this probably
stems from my poor memory). I'm hoping that I'll do better in the
logic- and proof- based mathematics courses. Who knows, though.
>
> I shan't add any more to the multitude of good and bad replies,
> partly because they already include the particularly wise comments of
> "gswork".
>
> Ken Pledger.