What does this mean? 7 Posts?There are only seven people on this forumn.
Yes, the vast majority of it isn't ever needed in real life, it's just something they make you learn at college.Most of us who know it learned it in college, and have tried hard to forget itIt's the understanding of it that's important, not so much doing actual integrals and remembering math rules.
I got an A in my honors differential equations course in college, but that was ten years ago and I hardly use it as an electronics design engineer.
I don't agree, if you understand how the tools work (and if your mind is sharpI'd argue that it's far more important to know how to use the tools you have than to understand how they work (from the point of view of getting something done).
That clearly falls under knowing how to use the tool, not understanding how it works (aka where it comes from). That would involve all the conduction and valence band stuff. Similar to knowing how to use matrix reduction rules, but not knowing where they come from.I don't agree, if you understand how the tools work (and if your mind is sharp), then you can think through possible sequences and determine what would be the best way to solve your problem. If you just know how to use the tools but don't know why, you'll only go so far and then be stuck. Then you'll have to go all the way back again and try and understand it. Say for example, Ohms Law. If I didn't understand the relationships between voltage, current, and resistance, I could be in big trouble. What If I wanted to power an LED and I didn't know about current? I could say well R=E/I and I'll give this LED 1A of current (because I don't understand what is too much) and the LED will self destruct. Or, what If I would like to give someone a little zap of current and I give them 2A of current? Since, I didn't understand that could kill the other person!
very true, but alot of the upper year math courses are actually useful. I think the only math course I more useless than useful was first year algebra. Sure matrix manipulation and solving for unknowns using matrix is ok, but towards middle/end of the course, we began learning abstract math, strictly theoretically like 4th dimension math. Thats useless.Yes, the vast majority of it isn't ever needed in real life, it's just something they make you learn at college.
With many mathematical formulas we have today, you have to understand the concepts so that you apply the correct one. You have to understand why your doing that and how you will benefit from that. I like to know why I'm applying a formula, wouldn't you?That clearly falls under knowing how to use the tool, not understanding how it works (aka where it comes from). That would involve all the conduction and valence band stuff. Similar to knowing how to use matrix reduction rules, but not knowing where they come from.
Yes, in theory. But then again you might as well just say that you would like to know everything. In reality, knowing it tends to come at the cost of knowing something else and as far as math theory goes, it's one of the things where 90% of the effort goes into the last 10% of understanding. Knowing math theory (ie. taking a course in math proofs) really doesn't help you very much in practical matters. You might feel enlightened and good about yourself because you know the theory and the proofs that are the basis of the math solution you're working with, but when was the last time you actually needed it and used it?With many mathematical formulas we have today, you have to understand the concepts so that you apply the correct one. You have to understand why your doing that and how you will benefit from that. I like to know why I'm applying a formula, wouldn't you?
You're right, I probably would like to know everything. Most things, anyway.Yes, in theory. But then again you (and me) would both probably like to know everything.
Well, I would say that knowing the theory is part of math.There's a difference between knowing the math, and knowing the theory behind the math.
I don't think so. A regular math class vs an honours math class go about teaching the same concept completely differently. One teaches how to use the concept, the other teaches where it came from. I really saw the difference when I was taking honours calculus and "regular" linear algebra at the same time. In the calculus class we were trying to figuring out how to derive everything, but not necessarily how to use it. Once we derived the result, we stopped. In linear algebra lots of algorithms were coming out of thin air to work with matrices, with no explanation as to why they were the way they were. You just used followed the algorithm to reduce the matrix or find the determinant or eigen values, but you learned to do it well and use the result for practical purposes. It was a similar thing with "regular" calculus II, you were told what Greene's THereom and Stoke's thereom was and how to use it. You were not taught why it is what it is.Well, I would say that knowing the theory is part of math.
That was like my first year of uni. We took all kinds of math, linear algebra, calc I and calc II. It was only in second year where we started our basic electrical courses where we reviewed the calc I and calc II stuff to see HOW it applies. Because I can never truly understand why we learn some of these concepts, but then later on, I found out why we need them. Mind you, some of it was useless and abstract, but partial derivaties, laplace transforms and its inverse etc..proved to be very useful later on.In the calculus class we were trying to figuring out how to derive everything, but not necessarily how to use it. Once we derived the result, we stopped.