3 ms·
That essay is good, but the math advice might lead a practical minded person the wrong direction. There's a footnote which suggests you want to learn math-major
by rdouble 16y ago
That essay is good, but the math advice might lead a practical minded person the wrong direction. There's a footnote which suggests you want to learn math-major math, not engineering math. As a math major I can assure you my coursework in the foundations of abstract algebra has been about as useful as my medieval philosophy classes. If you want to make the robot put the bomb in the right place or have the credit derivatives swap into your trading account, you'll still need to know all the tedious engineering math. The math major-y stuff might be a good intellectual workout, but you can probably get the same cognitive effects by learning classical piano. With music, you'll also end up with a skill that is inherently enjoyable qnd impressive to others, instead of being stuck with a skill that makes adults nervous and children upset.
- argv_empty 16y agoThe same footnote also directs students toward set theory, combinatorics, and graph theory. As I double major, I would say my study in those areas has been useful for computer science. I would guess that the recommendation to avoid "x for engineers" classes comes from the expectation that classes meant for nonmajors are likely to water down the material and reduce rigor in teaching/grading.
- klbarry 16y agoI'm hoping to get some of those cognitive effects from stat classes and the like that will also be helpful for business. We'll see!
- phamilton 16y agoI disagree. I'm a CpE major who, on account of being denied a double major, is cherry picking the upper level math classes (Abstract Algebra, Number Theory and Group Theory). Abstract algebra teaches methods of problem solving that you can't really learn somewhere else. Reducing a problem to rings or groups let's you simplify it drastically. While most problems aren't exactly a direct ring or group, similar approaches can be taken. Assumptions can be dropped and more "friendly" operators can be used instead. At the same time, I do have to agree. If you don't get math, it's not going to do much good.