Science General Discussion

[Xevross]

Well, at that level, the fun is more about the beauty of math.  And seeing how stuff fits together.  
Well, I don't think you've even really done any math I'd consider fun anyways.  

My maths analysis course last year is the most pure math course I did. It was on set theory, epsilon proofs and stuff like that. I absolutely despised it.

[the-pi-guy]

My maths analysis course last year is the most pure math course I did. It was on set theory, epsilon proofs and stuff like that. I absolutely despised it.

That's because analysis is a terrible class.  For the most part.

[the-pi-guy]

My two favorite math classes have been Number theory and abstract algebra.  

Abstract was about all kinds of random math problems.  That class was more about figuring stuff out than applying anything.  One math problem we did was figure out how many configurations were possible in a 2x2x1 (not sure what the official name for it is, but it was Rubik's cuby)

Number Theory feels like a legitimate math class.  It is all about proofs, but the proofs actually mean something.  And the coolest part of the class is that our proofs build on earlier proofs.  So it feels like we are making progressions into math.  
It's also neat because it is all about familiar objects like 1,2,3, etc.  

Some of my other classes that should have been cool, felt like they got bogged down into abstract details or they were all about applying the same things over and over.  

[Legend]

(not sure what the official name for it is, but it was Rubik's cuby)

2x2 floppy cube. Solves itself as you scramble.

Outside of calculus, all my higher math has been self taught so I pretty much only know about stuff that I find interesting or is from Numberphile


This channel is also great

[the-pi-guy]

I've seen that channel.
Learning that way is the best way to learn fun math.  Most teachers don't do anything fun.  

[Xevross]

Numberphile is pretty cool. I've seen a few videos of their's and enjoyed them.

I do love calculus quite a lot, but outside of that I don't particularly like maths. I guess some algebra and geometry is fun too.

[the-pi-guy]

Numberphile is pretty cool. I've seen a few videos of their's and enjoyed them.

I do love calculus quite a lot, but outside of that I don't particularly like maths. I guess some algebra and geometry is fun too.

See you do enjoy math.  You liar.  

[Xevross]

See you do enjoy math.  You liar.  

I do! Just not pure math

[the-pi-guy]

I do! Just not pure math

Eh, I'd argue that pure math doesn't really exist the way some people think of it.  
It's just some people think their math is more important because it has practical applications.  

But "pure" math also has a lot of applications itself.  

Mathematicians in "pure maths" and "applied maths" use plenty of the other.  

[Xevross]

Eh, I'd argue that pure math doesn't really exist the way some people think of it.  
It's just some people think their math is more important because it has practical applications.  

But "pure" math also has a lot of applications itself.  

Mathematicians in "pure maths" and "applied maths" use plenty of the other.  

I'm not arguing about importance or anything. Its just the maths that you'd generally call 'pure maths' I usually don't like/hate, and the maths you'd generally call 'applied maths' I usually love. Plus applied maths has a lot more interesting applications in physics.

[Legend]

I'm not arguing about importance or anything. Its just the maths that you'd generally call 'pure maths' I usually don't like/hate, and the maths you'd generally call 'applied maths' I usually love. Plus applied maths has a lot more interesting applications in physics.

I think it's cool that lots of applied math started out as pure math.

It's like half the puzzle is finding new math, and the other half is finding that math in nature.

[the-pi-guy]

I think it's cool that lots of applied math started out as pure math.

It's like half the puzzle is finding new math, and the other half is finding that math in nature.

Yeah, pure math is just applied math that hasn't found its purpose yet!

But even a lot of pure math is used in some CS fields.  Mostly security....  

[the-pi-guy]

4x4 determinants make me hate math.  

The two bottom rows were all functions.  One row looked like e^(ika-ib) for every function.  The other looked like (ika-ib)e^(ika-ib) for every function.  

There were also no 0's anywhere.  

I filled up like 2 pieces of paper, front and back of both.  Made a mistake, and had no time to fix it.  

[Legend]

4x4 determinants make me hate math.  

The two bottom rows were all functions.  One row looked like e^(ika-ib) for every function.  The other looked like (ika-ib)e^(ika-ib) for every function.  

There were also no 0's anywhere.  

I filled up like 2 pieces of paper, front and back of both.  Made a mistake, and had no time to fix it.  

Yeah haha they suck. I was programing my own 4x4 class the other day and ended up saving time by creating a little loop that'd output the formula with my variables. Would have sucked to have had to type it out, and yet that'd be trivial compared to doing calculations on paper like you did.

[the-pi-guy]

I really like my number theory class though.  

The big thing in a lot of the class is modulus.  

So like 7=2(mod 5)
Basically it looks at the remainder of what's left after dividing.  It's this: %
But it has a ton of really useful properties and connections with prime numbers.