You heard me, fractions!
As a math major, I am of course currently enrolled in math courses. Two of them, in fact, and for the first time since sophomore year of high school, my math classes are actually collecting homework. This is a totally foreign idea to me, you have to understand, but it has the effect of me actually doing my HW in a timely fashion. (I am the best math student.)
While doing my homework for differential equations, I came across something in the textbook that was, at first, nothing more than a minor annoyance, but the more I think about it, the more it makes me ANGRY WITH RAGE.
There's this thing that textbooks do sometimes where they will introduce a new concept during the exercises. In my calculus book, it's some minor idea that never really comes up again beyond this section of the text. It's a novelty that you're not expected to remember for future problem-solving.
In my differential equations book, it was a core method for solving differential equations. HALF THE CHAPTER was problems based on this idea, which was introduced and explained IN PROBLEM 30.
WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN PUT IN THE CHAPTER TEXT? Why would you take a VITAL IDEA and secret it away inside the practice problems instead of introducing and explaining it in the chapter text????? This is like if my calc book had introduced the idea of epsilon-delta proofs in the middle of a problem set. GUYS THAT COMES UP AGAIN LATER WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE IT EASY TO MISS
(Yes I am using a printed copy of my textbook I AM THE BEST MATH STUDENT.)
I do not think I am correctly portraying just how angry I am about this poor organizational decision. I am so angry about this, you guys. So angry. I am so angry that I am about ready to punch a kitten.
In fact, I think I will.
DO YOU SEE THAT BOYCE AND DIPRIMA? DO YOU SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR DECISIONS? THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE WROUGHT.
MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU WRITE A MATH TEXTBOOK YOU WILL MAKE BETTER DECISIONS HMMM?
I think you should post a picture of (a) kitten(s) with every math post, so then its awesome value will increase exponentially and take math to new heights.
ReplyDelete~your #1 fan, Dajbat
Sometimes I wonder if these people who write math/physics/chemistry books pull these shenanigans with the express purpose of making things harder for the average student so as to promote an intelectual elite comprised solely of douchebags.
ReplyDelete