[Gllug] Light the blue touchpaper...

[Pete Ryland]

On Wed, Mar 17, 2004 at 05:25:43PM +0000, Christopher Hunter wrote:
> On Wednesday 17 Mar 2004 1:42 pm, Pete Ryland wrote:
> > Did you learn how to calculate tan x by hand before someone gave you a
> > book with a table in it?  I doubt it. 
> 
> Yes.  It was considered to be the correct way to demonstrate the principles 
> when I was at school.  One you understood the priciples, then books of tables 
> were introduced.  That is why I probably have a much better understanding of 
> mathematical principles than my daughter (who's at University, studying 
> mathematics and astonomy at present).

Calculating tan x with pencil and paper, I would argue, certainly doesn't
help you understand any principles behind it.  It may give you RSI and help
you remember your times tables and better your attention to detail, but the
way you'd calculate it is different from its application.

> > We have the technology, why not use it? 
> 
> Because the mechanised approach doesn't really explain what's going on!

Neither does calculating it by hand in the above case.  You'd just waste an
afternoon you could have spent learning something else.

> > I'll be the first to admit that my numeracy is far worse than my parents',
> > but I don't think I'm any worse for it.  My maths is certainly far far
> > better than theirs.  Most of my uni maths exams didn't have any numbers in
> > them anyway.
> 
> Likewise, but an appreciation of the manipulation of numbers is a
> prerequisite for higher mathematics!

Perhaps, but wrote-learning times tables hasn't helped me in over 15 years.

Pete
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