Mental Math

My favorite part of the reading was towards the end when the author taught fast ways to square numbers. I would have never thought of doing math this way. It was cool to see something I never thought possible to be done in your head be put in such simple terms. My only question is, will there be another trick for square roots? I would love to learn a mental math method for those!

FLOW

This quote from the Flow introduction opened up a new perspective for me. In our busy and seemingly purposeful lives it's hard to consider the fact that Earth wasn't built to accommodate us and to make sure we were constantly happy. As the article said, we can't take our planet for granted. My question for this week is: if our ancestors who went through so much to survive could see us today, what would they think? Is our modern world "progress" or a kind of degeneration?

QQC-Mastery

This week, I was very interested in the part of the reading that talked about how some people leave West Point after the first semester, and others go on to "military mastery" The answer was grit. My question is; If you have a certian level of grit, can you still master something that could require more grit? In other words, can you still master something if you dont have enough grit? I think that true mastery can only come from genuine passion about something. Even if you work really hard, you wont be a master unless your grit matches the pain you have to go through to get there.

50 Life Secrets

1. Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions. Those who are heavy set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost. Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content.
2. Develop an endless curiosity about this world. Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Stop and observe all of the little things as completely unique events. Try new things. Get out of your comfort zone and try to experience as many different environments and sensations as possible. This world has so much to offer, so why not take advantage of it?

This week, I enjoyed the reading so much, that I had to pick two of the quotes! These life secrets were interesting to read about, and left me with a lot of ways to make small improvements to myself.

I desperately need to work on reducing my attachment to possessions, but my question is how do I do this? My room is filled with stuff; on the walls, in every corner, on a table or a desk, its everywhere!

I really liked the second tip because I am trying to broaden my views and be more curious about the world. After reading this little tip, I now know that I can become curious by the little things and not just major things like traveling or current events. There is a lot out there to explore and it is everywhere.

Math Project Proposal

***One idea for our math project would be a type of "survival guide" for calculus, and those essential tools from algebra. I think that this project would work well because everyone in the class would be involved and not only could it be saved for next year, but we could use it in our entry level college courses. The book would cover topics and have helpful tips and explanations. It would be our customized text book designed for everyone in our class to understand. Through doing the project everyone would have a more solid grip on algebra and calculus concepts.

Another idea was making a math problem that dealt with gas prices. We could track costs of gas in different areas, and use math to figure out when the best time to buy gas is. Should you buy when the tank is on empty, at half tank, every time you drive, etc. We could work with averages, derivatives and other concepts.

QQC Chapter 1

Right before the beginning of the quote, it said that this was Euclid's definition of the number one. I thought that this was an interesting quote since Euclid did have such a large impact on numbers a math in general. One is such a hard number to define, and it can be shown in so many different ways. Did Euclid know the power of his work when he wrote his book about math and number theory?

Numbers Continued!!

This part of the article went on to talk about Buddhas insight into small numbers, and it was pretty clever. I never realized how much fractional numbers have effected the way we understand small numbers. Where would famous chemists be without the small numbers to understand concepts like atoms? This week I gained a new appreciation for fractions!!

Numbers

Learning about the origin of numbers was really cool! I found this part of the reading very interesting because I have always wondered how numbers started, and how people began to convey and express them. I didnt know that people werent able to tell the number in groups of objects (like 6 vs 7 apples) and I am curious to know why that is, aside from the fact that there wasnt counting. What would it have been like to live in a time without numbers?

QQC-Gauss

This week I read about Gauss and I was very interested in how he made some important discoveries. This quote went on to say that he went on discover the differential geometry of curved surfaces. It is interesting to think that if he hadn't been working on such a tedious/time wasting project, he wouldn't have made one of "the great ideas of science". Although I had never heard of Gauss, I do know about Einstien's theory of relativity and how important it is. I think everything is built upon something else, especially in math and science. My question is did he like doing this tedious task in the first place? and where did he begin to think about circles instead of triangles?, What triggered him to think outside the box and create a new idea?

QQC-Bernoulli

I found the part about Bernoulli very interesting. I thought it was pretty cool to learn that he and his brother worked a lot with infinite series. One of my questions was how did people even begin thinking about these complex ideas in the 1700's? What prompted the idea of adding fractions or figuring out infinite series? I can appreciate his work now because it relates to some of the work we do in calculus! I wonder when people will take on solving problems like 0/0!? WOAH

QQC-Leibniz

This portion of the reading struck me for several reasons. I think that one way to shape your beliefs is through if you are on the science side of things, or the philosophy side. My ideas of the world have changed back and forth over the years, but I think personally I have settled slightly more on the philosophy side. I think its pretty cool that since he was so fascinated by the sciences that he created his own theories about the world. That showed his true passion for science and showed me what may have distinguished him as one of the great minds of his/all time. My question is how did his work in math play into the role of science in his life?