Do the math: too much calculus? (2012)

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by CalChris on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @02:53PM (#12746605)

Berkeley EECS grad. I didn't go the device physics route but I used calculus about twice in 4 years except in physics classes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by supahfly_remix on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @03:22PM (#12746875)

Circuit analysis turns differential equations into algebra, so you might have been using calculus more than you realize.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by CalChris on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @09:12PM (#12749189)

Yeah, I might have been guilty of some hyperbole. I remember a nasty integral on the Linear Systems midterm. It probably would have taken an hour or so if I didn't make any mistakes; but you could transform it and solve it as a linear equation in 10 seconds.

That was the point of the class, that there area two kinds of problems, linear problems and problems you can't solve.

I'm not in the least suggesting that an engineer shouldn't go through three semesters of Calculus, Linear Algebra+DiffEq and a Discrete Math course.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by dboreham on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @03:39PM (#12747003)

That really makes no sense, unless the "EE" part was optional in your case.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by thatswrong0 on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @05:06PM (#12747651)

There are different "tracks", and some of them have very little EE (with way more CS focus). I think I only took two EE courses IIRC..

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by baldfat on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @04:01PM (#12747196)

The beauty of calculus is that you actually understand the Real World.

For example I taught my daughter factions this way.

Me: "These factions you see them? Now see these decimal points?"

Her: "Yeah I hate factions they are stupid!"

Me: "Factions are the only consistently real numbers below 1 and decimal points for the most part are made up numbers. 1/3 is 1/3 and never .3333."

Her: "I always thought it was the otehr way around."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by yequalsx on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @05:20PM (#12747776)

The first sentence in Your last statement in your conversation to your daughter is profoundly wrong. Your daughter was not in any way made to better understand fractions by this interaction. By the way, .3333 is a rational number and therefore equal to a fraction.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by BigJeffeRonaldo on Thursday October 20, 2016 @09:23AM (#12751933)

https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~wtg10/decimals.html

You can construct a complete ordered field from infinite decimals

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by gohrt on Thursday October 20, 2016 @03:34AM (#12750355)

Your idea did not translate into English. I think you are trying to say that most decimals we see in real life are approximations, not exact measurements, while fractions are exact?

This has nothing to do with calculus, though.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by thesimpsons1022 on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @05:26PM (#12747826)

is there a reason you call them factions and not fractions?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by fao_ on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @04:51PM (#12747562)

... Ohhhhhh.

I wish you would teach me calculus =)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by fao_ on Thursday October 20, 2016 @09:06AM (#12751834)

This... might have come out wrong. What I meant was something along the lines of: You should teach, have you considered mentoring?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by wfo on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @06:21PM (#12748222)

Berkeley lets you skip learning asymptotic runtime analysis of algorithms if you're doing EECS? Weird.

FYI: infinite sums are calculus.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by surrey-fringe on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @05:01PM (#12747625)

Berkeley's a really good university.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Do the math: too much calculus? (2012) by eanzenberg on Wednesday October 19, 2016 @06:12PM (#12748164)

lel

[ Parent | on HN ]