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Introduction

Journals 2007

January
February
March
April
May
June
July

Notes

Literature
Mathematics
Technology
Birding
ModelTrains
Philosophy
Psychology
Science
History

Time

YTDate
January
February
March
April
May
June
July

Monday July 16, 2007 7:40 am Lethbridge

It is +15 C with a high forecast of +31 C. Sunrise 5:41 Sunset 21:34 Hours of daylight: 15:53

A. Morning Musings

7:40 am

We have had almost a solid week of temperatures in the 30's. Amazing.

My daily list remains very simple: continue progress on my web site and continue reading Pushkin's biography.

I continue to grapple with what to include on this web site. Pushkin also kept a notebook (I gather that most writers do this) but it was relatively spartan, giving little indication of what Pushkin thought about many of the events that he briefly mentioned.

I enjoy beginning the day with a quick update and orientation toward the rest of the day. For awhile I tried adding headlines from a couple of news web sites, but after a few months this seemed to become tedious. The news is boring and repetitive. I also find that I am too tired in the evening to engage in any serious reflections. Early morning is my time.

I will try to use this space for a few more musings, rather than just identify what I hope to accomplish. At the moment my activities are primarily centered about Russian literature, XHTML/CSS and mathematics. The mathematics has been fascinating as I begin to realize how much I have forgotten in 40 years. I start a book, but then become dissatisfied as I feel I do not really understand what I am reading. I have just ordered 2 books on abstract algebra (matrices, group theory) as I need to build up my background before tackling the books I have on symmetry. That is fine, but at the same time I am letting my earlier reading on calculus to lapse. I must include this in my daily activities. Perhaps the best approach is to adopt an alternating schedule of calculus and algebra. Since I do not expect my algebra books for a couple of weeks, this is a good opportunity to return to calculus.

Now for a few minutes thought on Literature. I have identified four countries whose literature I truly enjoy: Canada, Russia, Japan and Australia. I also value England, Ireland and the USA. Yet I would not pretend to be a scholar on any of these areas. Within Russia I have a few key authors: Dostoevsky (novels), Turgenev (short stories) , Tolstoy (novels), Chekov (short stories), Pushkin (poetry) and Akhmatova (poetry). Gogol is a name I have seen many times, but which I have never followed through on. I am looking forward to the books I have ordered for both Pushkin and Gogol.

Sitting out on the patio in the early morning when the air is so fresh and cool is a delight. We are now beginning to do that regularly and it is great.

Calculus. One difficulty with studying calculus, or almost all mathematics, is getting the notation to appear properly on this web site. Sometimes the solution is so obvious as to be embarrassing. I am going to begin again, this time using a package of lined 3-ring pages and then scan the result and show that as an image. Mathematics, for me, has 2 distinct aspects: one is that of doing activities by hand, the other is to use the technology as a tool to actually carry out the complex operations. Mathematica is the best software for the latter, a good pen is the best hardware for the former. This web site can easily show the results of both approaches. But this web site is still an excellent medium for making static notes about the concepts.

C. Actual Learning Activities

9:50 am