July 27

Friday July 27, 2007 6:10 am Lethbridge

It is +20 C with a high forecast of +34 C. Sunrise 5:54 Sunset 21:21 Hours of daylight: 15:27

A. Morning Musings

6:10 am

The hot weather has returned.

Immediate	Description	Time
Literature	Begin reading "The Metamorphosis and Other Stories" by Franz Kafka	1 hr
Mathematics	Continue ch. 1 of "Abstract Algebra" by Herstein	1 hr
Mathematics	Complete problems 2.28 - 2.32 of "The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems"	1 hr
Mathematics	Continue reading "The Black Swan" by Nassim Taleb	1 hr

C. Actual Learning Activities

6:20 am

Nothing like a little maths to start the morning right.

Mathematics 28

July 27, 2007

7:10 am

I finished the exercises for chapter 2 this morning.

The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems (2006) W. Michael Kelley

Chapter 2 Polynomials

Here are my scans (original at color - photo, 150 dpi, custom size 8 x 10.5 in, export at width of 600 pixels) of the problems I completed in a one hour session this morning.

calculus

7:20 am

I am still doing basic high school algebra. But the review is necessary to build up my algebraic skills for when I begin calculus proper. Some ideas come back instantaneously (such as the formula for the roots of a quadratic equation), but others are slower (what does the phrase "completing the square" mean?).

The Kelley book intrigues me. There is no didactic explanation for any of the ideas, but one picks them up in the process of working through some problems.

There are 8 review chapters before I begin the first calculus chapter. Here is a table of the overall review problems:

No.	Title	Completed
1	Linear Equations and Inequalities	July 20/07
2	Polynomials	July 27/07
3	Rational Expressions
4	Functions
5	Logarithmic and Exponential Functions
6	Conic Sections
7	Fundamentals of Trigonometry
8	Trigonometric Graphs, Identities, and Equations