May
31, 2017 Wednesday
Bedtime
Story
Continuation of Mathematical Reading
Reading
mathematics is an arduous task.
Each
line requires effort, concentration and high degree of cognitive activity;
trying to read mathematics at the rate of your average book will eventually
lead to frustration, despair and eventually loss of interest.
In
fact simply reading mathematics may not be sufficient.
You
may need to write it down in your own language, even not in mathematical
language but at least in your words the concept.
Bedtime
storytelling, in that manner, has proven to me quite useful.
Even
better is what mon ami does; to narrate the idea to someone else verbally.
Mon
ami does it naturally; but for an average ape like me that would need preparation
of at least few hours, or may be one entire evening.
The
other thing about mathematics and mathematical writings are the absolute
preciseness of the words that is alien to most readers of fiction and poems.
Again
I quote Edward Rothstein:
“The
meaning is rarely completely transparent, because every symbol or word already
represents an extraordinary condensation of concept and reference.”
One
of the notorious phrases that is commonly encountered in mathematics is “It
follows from that”.
This
simple four-word phrase is perhaps the most deceptive statement ever created.
What
this phrase actually means to say is that the next logical conclusion that the
author derives from it can be explained using a series of steps but since it
would occupy a lot of space and since it isn’t too farfetched if you cared to
work it out, the author is giving it a skip.
It
is up to the reader to try to pause, give it a little thought and then to work
it out or simply assume that the author has done his homework and carry on
reading.
The
last thing about reading mathematics is being aware of your own knowledge and
preparedness on the subject that is being written about.
A
writer of mathematics is most likely a mathematician himself who tries to write
for the sake of average public.
The
problem that the reader is confronted with then is that the expectation of the
writer of that word “average” isn’t all that average.
The
intended audience of the writer is expected to either possess and if lacking
then attain a certain level of mathematical maturity.
So
at times in order to read a mathematical text, one might have to work up and
brush a bit to become the intended audience of the author.
No
wonder which so much hard work expected, both mathematics and mathematical
writings could never gain popularity.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.in/
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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