“All the little bits”

  • Juki@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I would’ve absolutely paid more attention in maths if the learning material was this utterly contemptuous of “ordinary mathematicians” haha

    also full Project Gutenberg text is here https://calculusmadeeasy.org/, thanks for sharing!

    • 5oap10116@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I’m a chemical engineer and I now better understand calculus slightly better from this post. I did a whole lot of “okkayyy …let’s just stick to the process and wait for this whole thing to blow over”

      I know what they were asking me to do but I never really fully understood everything.

      • Liz@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        okkayyy…let’s just stick to the process and wait for this whole thing to blow over

        This is such a classic engineer brain solution to the problem. It just warms my heart.

        • 5oap10116@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          When I started algebra in something like 5th grade I had a huge issue with f(x) and the best answer my teacher gave me was that “the equation is a function of x” and couldn’t explain it differently and I couldn’t get over the fact that we are not multiplying whatever f is by X. “If we’re going to set precedent with notation at least be fucking consistent” - 5th grade me probably

      • gramie@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        I also studied chemical engineering, and throughout high school and university that was exactly it. Calculus was a kind of magic, and you just had to learn all the spells.

        With this book I finally understood why the derivative of x^2 is 2x.