Wednesday 19 September 2012

Calculus Smellculus

Mathematics and i have never had a very good relationship and after the recent bout of exam results, i have heard many students moaning about how their maths grades are not all they could be.
My official stance is that Maths is important but off the record, unless you are planning on becoming an engineer or a Maths teacher, you can always get by with a basic knowledge of Maths.
Never, since i left school, have i ever used calculus or pythagoras or been forced to scramble around in the dusty part of my brain for what pi is.
As long as you have a working knowledge of the times tables, can divide, subtract and add, are able to find a percentage of something and know how algebra works, you will always get by so don't fret over that low Maths result.
Of course, as i mentioned earlier, this doesn't always apply especially if you are going into a career where maths is important such as engineering, architecture or co-hosting Countdown where you need a quick, mathematical brain to work out how to make 792 with four big numbers and two little ones.
Anyway, i was never any good at maths and it has never been a problem for me and it shouldn't be a problem for the majority of people as sure as 5x^-2y^10 over 2x^-1(-3x^-3y^-1)^-2 equals 4. Probably.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

just for the record, whatever that mathy looking stuff is at the end is not calculus...

q

Lucy said...

Its okay q, a case of Brit humour missing the target in Texas again. It was just a weak maths joke after a whole post about not being very good at maths. To be honest i wouldn't know calculus if i got hit around the head with it, i just copied and pasted a difficult looking equation. Pi isn't it?

Anonymous said...

yeah sure Lucy, that is Pi... if you say so.

i got that it was a joke but i was looking for something a little more sophisticated.

like: why is 8 scared of 7? because 7, ate, 9. get it?

q