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This is a collection of math problems which have either been particularly influential, or which I found fun to solve for one reason or another.
how i learned math
I spent much of my life being mathematically illiterate. I assumed I was poor with numbers because there was something fundamentally wrong with me, such that I was barred from being able to comprehend them; that the people who were able to excel at calculating were simply built for it, and I was not. I find that this is a very common attitude, which is unfortunate.
The first time I ever had the desire to learn math was a little prior to my attending college. Two of my friends, a mathematician and a physicist, were watching me play one of the Professor Layton games for the DS. I was stuck on a riddle that could be solved only with a system of equations, and had zero idea how to do this. Much piss was taken, etc. I cost the mathematician ten dollars after he was bet he couldn't teach me this very basic concept. I found the entire thing so embarrassing that I resolved to learn something of algebra at any cost. Those two practically held my hand through my early math courses, to the point of, at times, being on-call work checkers for me. The mathematician taught me algebra with the patience of a saint, and the physicist picked me up in precalculus I. By the time I declared biochemistry as my major, I was becoming very comfortable with algebra; trigonometry I found daunting but fun; I am now up to calculus and have started looking into geometry on my own. Mathematics is one of the most beautiful and interesting things in the world, and I would wholeheartedly recommend that anyone with even the slightest interest try to learn it. To Jenna, thank you for fielding my questions in precalculus II. To Sailol and Tunç, thank you very much for opening up a world of possibilities to me, though at times I couldn't have made it easy. I really don't know where I'd be today without the help and confidence you both invested in me — certainly not in biomathematics. |
my favorite textbooks
College Algebra & Trigonometry, 1st edition (Julie Miller & Donna Gerken) Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions, 7th edition (Ron Larson & Bruce Edwards)
the best calculator ever
If TI-30XIIS has a million fans, then I am one of them. If TI-30XIIS has ten fans, then I am one of them. If TI-30XIIS has only one fan then that's me. If TI-30XIIS has no fans, then that means I'm dead. If the world is against TI-30XIIS, then I am against the world. |
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precalculus II
Precalculus II was the first time I felt invested in mathematics. Trigonometry felt very different from the rote algebraic processes I'd been forced to become proficient with. It was weird; it had a lot of conceptual baggage that I found difficult to wrap my head around; it felt like I was learning Esperanto, or gazing into another universe.
Though they no longer pose as much challenge, I still have a deep fondness for these problems. They were the first ones I did where I felt awed at the solution and proud of myself for having gotten there. |
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calculus I
Calculus I was a horrible course for me: I can't think of any time I've ever been more burnt out; I'd never filled as many notebooks as I did for this alone; I skipped lunch most days to practice derivatives, and didn't talk to anyone except my tabletop group. For all that, I do find derivatives and integrals very satisfying, and would
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