Tell a high school physics teacher that calculus has nothing to do
with the real world ? The essence of the " real world " for science is
MATTER IN MOTION and CHANGE.
Calculus deals with a world in motion and
instantaneous rates of change. Almost all your high school math courses -
including introductory calculus -come together- making pragmatic and
theoretical sense - in First Year Physics.
All that really matters for
philistines is consumer math, of course.
Science literacy is
all but impossible without elementary algebra- the language of science.
And the ABCs of statistics can discredit fraudulent advertising
claims; or nonsense like " people are living longer nowadays and so we
must reset the Social Security retirement age to 70."
In other words higher math is a SHIT detector- a threat to the capitalist profit system.
Years ago a Professor Morris Kline wrote a book titled " Why the
Professor Can't Teach " ( including calculus ) . It is still relevant.
Kline also wrote " Mathematics and the Physical World ". For Kline math has a lot to do with the real world.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments that are courteous, concise and relevant are always welcome, whether or not they agree with the views expressed here or not. Profanity is not necessary. Thank you for reading “Time Enough At Last!”
