[Blindmath] Calculator for Calculus and Linear Algebra

Wed Aug 4 15:31:21 UTC 2010

Nelson,


    I'd agree that college for the most part is about theory with
little to no practical knowledge in my experience. If you have ever
been in an Intro to Logics course you sort of understand with those
silly things like horeshoes, wedges, dots and other operators in a
deductive problem to rearrange a statement to be morje symbolically
logical. However, most people understand Logic for what it is and that
is being deductive reasoning. I want to point out the COO of Apple who
gave a speach here at Auburn University had a Inudustrial Design
degree and now is one of the top most executives at Apple Computers.
     It's all about critical thinking and to an extent anything can
make you feel this way like natural sciences to music and mathematics
is just one way of getting to the level in which we speak. However,
cryptology is for hackers not so much for designers as much. If you
would read from Bill Snyder from New York you could easily tell this.
Moreover, I think advanced mathematics on a visually impaired level
would be difficult as you would need to coorilate the individual
strings from different levels processing them all at the same time.
College needs a serious 21st century overhaul cause obviously its not
working for both staff and student alike. Nobody comes out of here
that much understanding what they took or why they took it.
     I actually am trying to see if you could explain to me off list
exactly how your math can help computer science students? How far in
math and such did you go? I'm starting and am nervous cause being
blind and doing math appears to be impossible. I hate to say it but I
miss my vision so bad now. I used to kick ass on mathematics in Texas
hard core and Nevada in Las Vegas as well. Now it seems like a faded
memory. If you guys ty to e-mail me on friday morning or afternoon I'm
out cause of moving. See yea guys later.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Peter

On 8/4/10, Joseph C. Lininger <jbahm at pcdesk.net> wrote:
> Peter,
> I am coming late to this discussion, but I can comment as to why the level
> of math is required. There are a few reasons actually. First, there are
> actually a lot of situations in computer programming and software
> engineering where advanced mathematics will serve you. Examples include
> algorithm analysis, designing of new algorithms, system level programming,
> and others. It's interesting to note that many of the computer algorithms
> we use were designed by mathematicians. If you look at data compression, for
> instance, it's mostly a problem of probability and information theory.
> Cryptography is almost entirely mathematical in nature. For basic
> programming you're right. But if you want to design advanced algorithms,
> analyze existing ones, or even choose between two existing ones for your
> specific situation knowledge of mathematics is a must have. As a final
> statement on this particular point I would like to point out that there are
> algorithms out there which are only expressed in terms of the mathematical
> operations required to carry out the algorithm.
>
> There is a second reason I think they make a computer science student take
> all the math and hard science they do. I think a portion of the course work
> is designed to instill a certain way of thinking and problem solving. If you
> compare the process needed to design a software system to that required to
> solve a word problem in mathematics, you'll find there are a lot of
> similarities.
>
> When you study computer science, you're not just learning how to write a
> program. You're learning about computing in general, software engineering,
> and yes, programming. With larger software systems, the battle isn't the
> code itself. With a proper design, the actual writing of the code is much
> easier. It's hard to see that for smaller projects, though. In my opinion,
> that's one problem some colleges have with their computer science programs.
> They emphasize the need to design and use all these tools they give you, but
> you don't really have to for the tasks they set for you. It's like me giving
> you a bulldoser and telling you to use it to knock over a house of cards. A
> simple puff of air would do the job just fine. The result is that a lot of
> people don't understand why things they're being taught are important, so it
> doesn't stick as well as it should.
>
> I apologize if this seems a bit wordy. I felt the need to respond though
> because I used to feel as you do. I couldn't understand why on earth I
> should have to take mathematics to program a computer. I felt that way until
> I got into more of the upper division undergrad computer science courses.
> Then I started to understand how the mathematics applied to the topic of
> computer science as a whole. If you're just getting started, just stick with
> it and you'll start to see why they made you do it. One tip. Make sure you
> understand the math as you go. It'll be a lot harder if you don't. That's a
> lesson I had to learn the hard way.
> Joe
>
> Peter Wolfe writes:
>
>> Sarah and others,
>>
>>
>>
>>      Thank you for your timely reply to my calculator question. How
>> would you configure a  problem with a solution step by step then in
>> calculus? I'm wondering how much do I need to keep in my head and what
>> are some tips on strategies of working calculus problems? Well, I have
>> had precalculus like two and a half years ago and I forgot most of it
>> unfortunately. At the time, I thought that I was going to be a
>> politician but realized you have to be too pc for that arena. You also
>> are the wimb of voters, ethics, pay cuts or forloughs, bureaucracy and
>> etc. I'm now going to computer science and I've programmed before and
>> really don't see why you need this level of mathematics to do
>> operators or compiling much of anything at all other than domain
>> registeration or some bios or software archaetecture course work which
>> only probably 10% of the overall programming career actually pursuits.
>> Most programming in my experience is dealing with algebra like
>> variables, coefficients, standard four operations and etc not really
>> advanced mathematics.
>>
>> On 8/3/10, sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca <sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca> wrote:
>>> Peter,
>>> If you have a standard scientific calculator that works for you, you
>>> should be ok. Most universities won't let you use them for tests and
>>> exams etc. though.
>>> As far as what you need to know, I think we'd need to know about your
>>> academic background. however, if you have some algebra, trig, and
>>> geometry behind you you can grasp calculus.
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting Peter Wolfe <sunspot005 at gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>> To Blind Math list,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     I'm wondering if my talking scientific calculator could do Cal I,
>>>> II and III and Linear Algebra work? I'm in particular wondering about
>>>> Calculus I for the fall semester. Also, it would be helpful if anyone
>>>> off list could tell me what sort of things you would need to know
>>>> before starting calculus. I'm about to get a allgebra book an geometry
>>>> with trigenemetry or whatever. Thanks for any suggestions (e.g.
>>>> talking graphing calculators or other equipment with URLS or price or
>>>> suggestions in general to my sunspot005 at gmail.com address.
>>>>
>>>> God bless,
>>>> Peter
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Peter Q. Wolfe, AS
>>>> sunspot005 at gmail.com
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Peter Q. Wolfe, AS
>> sunspot005 at gmail.com
>>
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>


-- 
Peter Q. Wolfe, AS
sunspot005 at gmail.com