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olliemath: June 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Tuesday, June 14, 2005. The order of addition matters! Now we are ready for our demonstration that the infinite sum:. 1 - 1/2 1/3 - 1/4 1/5. - 1/(2n) 1/(2n 1). Can be rearranged to equal any number that we chose. In other words, the order of addition matters! The idea is this: choose any number in the real number system that you please. For example, choose, say "2". Now since we picked a positive number, start with the positive terms. Notice that s1 can exce...
ollietopology.blogspot.com
olliemath: June 2006
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Thursday, June 29, 2006. Interesting application of Baye's Rule. This post isn't so much to talk about the politics of the NSA mass surveillance program as it is to demonstrate a well known statistical concept. Answer: pretty low; probably less than 50%. 50% is what you would get if you were to merely flip a coin with heads: "he is a terrorist" and tails: "he isn't". Anyway, here goes with the article:. The mathematics of conditional probability were figured...
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olliemath: September 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Saturday, September 17, 2005. It has been a while; a philosophical question:. The start of the semester has gotten in the way of my blogging. :-) But I am in between watching football and grading exams. So, what was my duty in this case? What I ended up doing is telling the editor what I just said and made the necessary suggestions. Now, as far as grading exams: I am teaching a "calculus with precalculus" class. Basically, we go through the first semeste...
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olliemath: November 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Tuesday, November 29, 2005. Harsh Reality: Many students are set up to underachieve by their parents. I've posted before about how many students are showing up on campus without realizing that they will need to work hard. In my mind, I blamed the "self-esteem" centered culture that seems to be prevalent in our school system. I've also talked about the "helicopter parents" in a previous post. Http:/ www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp? I refer you...
ollietopology.blogspot.com
olliemath: December 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Saturday, December 24, 2005. U S Math Education: do we really lag behind the rest of the world? We’ve often heard how poorly our grade school students (high school and down) stack up to those students in other countries, especially when we compare test scores. A careful look at the data paints a nuanced picture. Yes, our schools (or our schools plus parents plus students) could do better. Again, this is not to say that all is well. And, frankly, as someo...
ollietopology.blogspot.com
olliemath: January 2006
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Tuesday, January 03, 2006. Dummies don't know that they are dumb. Over this break, I've done some reading and an excessive amount of blogging. I've also fallen prey to the sales at book stores; one "fun" book that I picked off of the $1.99 rack was Marc Abrams book. The Ig Noble Prizes. Annals of Improbable Research. The Ig Noble Prizes have made the mainstream news. One of the articles they talked about was the one given in psychology in 2000:. First, I'll ...
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olliemath: August 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Wednesday, August 31, 2005. Yesterday, I turned 46 years old. Next July, my wife, Barbara, turns 64. (No, you fans of Ben Franklin, they are not. Barbara noticed that, for a couple of months, the digits of our ages will be transposed. She said "that won't happen again.". Well, I pointed out: 75 - 57 = 18, 86 - 68 = 18, and being very optimistic, 97 - 69 = 18. Blindingly easy): what is the pattern? More challenging): what is going on here? Why does this work?
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olliemath: October 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Tuesday, October 11, 2005. More things you can do with a math degree. Of course, the top prize for mathematics is the Field's Medal. But, you could also win a Nobel prize in another field, as John Nash (the subject of "A Beautiful Mind") did. Game theory economists share Nobel prize Israeli-American and American win for work on political, economic conflict. The Associated PressUpdated: 2:49 pm ET Oct. 10, 2005. The understanding of game theory helps explain ...
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olliemath: July 2005
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Use Freefind to search this site (or the web). Wednesday, July 13, 2005. Weird Functions; why continuity matters so much. This summer I have been working through a delightful book by Gelbaum and Olmsted called. No, I don't own stock in the Dover book company, nor do I know either of the authors. I can recommend this book to anyone who is either learning elementary analysis, interested in learning the "whys" behind calculus, or is teaching calculus, real analysis or complex variables. Now recall that a ra...
