Day 03: Heart of Mathematics
- Announcements:
- Since some folks don't have their books yet, it's not been
possible for everyone to have perused the book and make their section
selections. For those who have not yet given their responses, please
do so soon! You can email me. By Thursday, or schedule will be set.
- Last time: we looked at some of the fun and games, in particular "dropping trou", "Let's make a deal", and "Vegas"
- Our impression, from our experiment, was that switching beat
sticking in Let's make a Deal. I asked you to think about "by how much". Our
results were
- 10 wins for switching
- 3 wins for sticking
- 3 ties
- Topologists don't know the difference between a coffee cup and a
donut, as we discovered from the "Dropping Trou" experiment.
- And we were considering the dice game when class ended last time....
- Favorite games, etc.:
|
Genie |
Fountain |
Trou |
Dodge |
Deal |
Vegas |
Dot |
| Favorite |
0 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
| Least Favorite |
0 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
4 |
| Solved |
7 |
11 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
- This time: we continue to think about how to solve these puzzles, as well
as those which are due for homework (due next Wednesday).
- Any "lessons for life" which were helpful?:
- Just do it.
- Make mistakes and fail, but never give up.
- Keep an open mind.
- Explore the consequences of new ideas.
- Seek the essential.
- Understand the issue.
- Understand simple things deeply.
- Break a difficult problem into easier ones.
- Examine issues from several points of view.
- Look for patterns and similarities.
Website maintained by Andy Long.
Comments appreciated.