To be or Not to be, Math is the Question

To be or Not to be, Math is the Question I always found the history of mathematics and the mathematicians themselves far more interesting than the actual math. I have never really figured out if this is because Im lousy at math or that I just do not have enough interest to make great strides into the ever advancing world of mathematics? I must admit that my math chops improved as I received a degree in it 4 years ago at the tender age of 55. However I cannot take credit for this achievement because I graduated from Venice High school in 1971 boasting that the highest math course I took there was called “senior math”.  I believe that course was for the “we are NOT going to college” kids. So when I sat down for my first college math course, which actually was a high school math course on a college campus with college prices, I had trouble grasping concepts. My first question to the instructor was; “How can a negative multiplied by a negative be positive?!” This made no sense at all. So you can see I was off to a great start on my mathematical journey. My biggest surprise about mathematicians was that many of the old school guys were also philosophers. I thought one of the things I’d like best about philosophy was that there were no wrong answers. Boy was I wrong.  â€œSymbolic logic” proved that!  I remember raising my hand and asking one of my professors if he ever noticed that an awful lot of mathematicians had troubled lives.  â€œAll professions have many members’ with troubled lives”, he said, defensively.  I thought well, this would explain my life. The main reason I was lifted onto this fast track to the world of higher math was simply because my major was Computer Science, and any Comp. Sci. student will tell you there is an awful lot of math required there. And I mean awful. Now please kids don’t allow me to discourage you on math because it is an incredible and very honorable scholastic path to embark upon. Some of the most amazing figures in world history were math guys.  Bill Gates for one. Oops, he dropped out didn’t he? Oh well. You get the point. There is always Descartes, Pascal, Einstein, and Wagner, to name a few.  Most of them graduated, I think? Either way these men changed the direction of the evolution of mankind.  Mathematics has been able to explain the universe and all that we see and all that we are. Except time, they still cant explain time! Maybe that’s why I always seem to be late. Now the real point to this diatribe is this; I could have never passed “Differential Equations”, “Numerical Analysis”, or “Combinatorial Algorithms” without some major help.  And my last year plus, of university work, I was helped by a tutor from (yes, you guessed it) TutorZ.com. Now this guy, from TutorZ, could have taught “Combinatorial Algorithms”. This is what my professor told me. So when I walked away from all that with an   “A” , I mean heh! That’s not bad? Right? So if you’re having trouble factoring a polynomial, or landing a mobile camera on Mars, click on TutorZ.com and see what you can accomplish with a little help from your friends at TutorZ! You just might be surprised. To be or Not to be, Math is the Question I always found the history of mathematics and the mathematicians themselves far more interesting than the actual math. I have never really figured out if this is because Im lousy at math or that I just do not have enough interest to make great strides into the ever advancing world of mathematics? I must admit that my math chops improved as I received a degree in it 4 years ago at the tender age of 55. However I cannot take credit for this achievement because I graduated from Venice High school in 1971 boasting that the highest math course I took there was called “senior math”.  I believe that course was for the “we are NOT going to college” kids. So when I sat down for my first college math course, which actually was a high school math course on a college campus with college prices, I had trouble grasping concepts. My first question to the instructor was; “How can a negative multiplied by a negative be positive?!” This made no sense at all. So you can see I was off to a great start on my mathematical journey. My biggest surprise about mathematicians was that many of the old school guys were also philosophers. I thought one of the things I’d like best about philosophy was that there were no wrong answers. Boy was I wrong.  â€œSymbolic logic” proved that!  I remember raising my hand and asking one of my professors if he ever noticed that an awful lot of mathematicians had troubled lives.  â€œAll professions have many members’ with troubled lives”, he said, defensively.  I thought well, this would explain my life. The main reason I was lifted onto this fast track to the world of higher math was simply because my major was Computer Science, and any Comp. Sci. student will tell you there is an awful lot of math required there. And I mean awful. Now please kids don’t allow me to discourage you on math because it is an incredible and very honorable scholastic path to embark upon. Some of the most amazing figures in world history were math guys.  Bill Gates for one. Oops, he dropped out didn’t he? Oh well. You get the point. There is always Descartes, Pascal, Einstein, and Wagner, to name a few.  Most of them graduated, I think? Either way these men changed the direction of the evolution of mankind.  Mathematics has been able to explain the universe and all that we see and all that we are. Except time, they still cant explain time! Maybe that’s why I always seem to be late. Now the real point to this diatribe is this; I could have never passed “Differential Equations”, “Numerical Analysis”, or “Combinatorial Algorithms” without some major help.  And my last year plus, of university work, I was helped by a tutor from (yes, you guessed it) TutorZ.com. Now this guy, from TutorZ, could have taught “Combinatorial Algorithms”. This is what my professor told me. So when I walked away from all that with an   “A” , I mean heh! That’s not bad? Right? So if you’re having trouble factoring a polynomial, or landing a mobile camera on Mars, click on TutorZ.com and see what you can accomplish with a little help from your friends at TutorZ! You just might be surprised.