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    Maths

    What do I need to know? Is this show any good?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dwf4f/The_Story_of_Maths_The_Language_of_the_Universe/

    And which shows on here should I listen to?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_science.shtml

    Or shall I leave it to Indians and Chinese and take up management?

    #2
    Maths

    Mmm... looking at that list, the KT boundary one is where I might well dip in.

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      #3
      Maths

      Ah, crap, I didn't know that show was on.

      Tubby, it's not really a question of what you need to know (although if you're asking, statistics and probability theory). It's more a question of what's out there that you might find interesting. Goedel, Escher, Bach, discussed on the other thread, is among other things about reflexivity in formal systems, which I find fascinating. Other people find set theory intriguing (Russell and Zermelo would be the place to start, presumably). Non-Euclidean geometry is pretty cool too, in my opinion. I could go on, but it would probably be better for someone like Wyatt to point you in the direction of a decent overview so you can see what tickles your fancy.

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        #4
        Maths

        I though du S's show was... OK. Bit breathless, and not much actual maths.

        Tubbs, do you want to know what to know about, or what to read? My list of Maths and Applied Maths Stuff That's Cool Or Important or Both would probably go something like, in no particular order,

        Godel's Incompleteness Theorem
        Calculus: change and the infinitesimal
        Infinite sets and Cantor's diagonal argument
        Probability
        Hypothesis testing and significance
        Numbers: natural, integer, rational, real, complex
        Differential equations
        Weirdass quantum stuff, esp. Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, Bell's theorem and Aspect's experiment
        A cool recent application like public key cryptography

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          #5
          Maths

          I want a grand tour really. With all the superficiality that implies.

          Comment


            #6
            Maths

            I think you should consider getting your hands dirty with some calculations. Not throughout your tour, but at points. The tour will make much more sense if you do.

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              #7
              Maths

              Hey! This thread needs some freakin' rock'n'roll perspective. Don't you be putting the words "math" and "cool" in the same sentence, don't you dare be freakin' doing that, man. We hate math. Math blows. You look at this whole banking thing, man, it was math that got us into this whole freakin' mess. I tell you, when we get together and bring this whole freakin' thing down, you know, the system, math is coming down with it. We're gonna bring math DOWN. Free the numbers!

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                #8
                Maths

                No way Jose. Math rock rules!

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                  #9
                  Maths

                  A history of maths book that included some exercises would be good. Any ideas?

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                    #10
                    Maths

                    History of Maths is not really my thing. There's a guy called RP Burn who's well into it, but I don't think he's written any overview/tour type stuff.

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                      #11
                      Maths

                      I think you should consider getting your hands dirty with some calculations
                      What, like if your pen leaks or if you're left handed and you can't help but smudge?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Maths

                        I suppose you could approach some of the fields through biography. Gauss was a pretty fascinating guy, for instance.

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