Articles tagged with algebra

1. The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra

   It once fell to my lot to teach Mathematics to first-year students at an Australian university. It is often said that you truly learn only when you start to teach. And so it was in my case.

   This blog is written for high school and first year students of mathematics whose primary interest is in the application of what they learn. The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra is usually glossed over with a passing reference, and without even a plausibility argument. Because of the theorem’s importance, I strike a balance here between being too rigorous and too lax, so that there is sufficient tension to sustain student interest, and sufficient detail to ensure that the proof is persuasive.

2. Expressions, Equations, and Formulae

   My dear friend, Solus “Sol” Simkin, casually asked me one summer day if I would write a blog demystifying the meanings and uses of four mathematical terms: expression, equation, formula, and differential equation. I thought that this was spoken in jest, and let his request lie in a dusty corner of my mind, as a memento to his humour.

3. Doron’s Mathematical Amnesia

   Poor Doron has suffered a strange cognitive deficit. His language and speech skills have survived intact, but he has developed ‘selective mathematical amnesia’. He has forgotten much of high school mathematics—which for a person with a Master’s degree in engineering—is a rather tragic state of affairs. In fact, his knowledge of mathematics now resembles Emmental cheese—full of holes.