Saturday June 7, 2008 7:00 am Lethbridge, Alberta

It is +9 C with a high forecast of +10 C. Sunrise 5:25 Sunset 21:36 Hours of daylight: 16:11.
See current forecast here. See current news here.

This page last updated on: Sunday, June 8, 2008 5:21 AM

A. Morning Musings

The forecast high for today is 11 degrees below the long term average.

Long Term Activities	Planned Activities for Today	Cumulative Total
Cull professional articles	Review Psychology articles	5 hr
Prepare pdf files of my papers	Digitize 3 professional papers	4 hr
Digitize slides	Digitize slide collection	10 hr
Put away stamps		0 hr

Learning Category	Planned Activities for Today	Time
Literature	Begin morning with a Rumi reading
Puzzles & Games	New York Times crossword puzzles	1 hr
Literature	Continue reading "The Age of Shiva" by Manil Suri	1 hr
Mathematics	Make a few notes on symmetry	2 hr

B. Actual Learning Activities

10:20 am

Notes on Symmetry - 18

Dale Burnett

Date	Mathematics	History
500 BCE	Pythagorus
399 BCE	Thaetetus classifies the 5 regular Platonic solids in 3 dimensions: tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron.
1048 - 1131	Omar Khayyam finds geometric method for solving cubic equations.
1200	Leonardo Fibonacci wtote the first original book on mathematics published in Europe. It introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals and place-value notation.
1439		Gutenberg invents the printing press
1452 - 1519		Leonardo da Vinci
1492		Columbus discovers America
early 1500s	del Ferro, Tartaglia, Cardano, Ferrari solve cubic & quartic equations
1564 - 1642	Galileo
1642 - 1727	Isaac Newton
1775 - 1783		American War of Independence
1777 - 1855	Carl Friedrich Gauss
1789 - 1799		French Revolution
1802 - 1829	Niels Henrik Abel proves that no formula exists for equations of degree 5.
1832	Evariste Galois dies at age 20.
1842 - 1899	Sophus Lie: Norwegian group theorist

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Symmetry
Fearless Symmetry
Algebra
Abstract Algebra
Creating Escher-type Drawings
Handbook of Regular Patterns
Symmetry & the Monster
The Celtic Design Book
A Transition to Advanced Mathematics
Modern Abstract Algebra
Indra's Pearls

I have begun reading and doing the exercises for section 1.3 of the Goodman book.

While having my morning shower I began to wonder why sudoku puzzles are so interesting to people and that the study of symmetry is not. Sudoku doesn't lead to anything whereas a deeper understanding of symmetry can lead to a much greater understanding and appreciation of many aspects of architecture, art, design, and nature. Is it the pedagogy that is at fault or is the topic fundamentally too abstract or too technical for easy enjoyment?

math

I am about to begin reading section 1.4 Symmetries and Matrices.

Unfortunately I have just noticed that I need to study Appendix E Review of Linear Algebra in order to follow much of the detail for section 1.4. Thus my next activities will be devoted to this appendix.

Tags: mathematics, symmetry

3:00 PM

Here are a few photos of me trying to turn a cup of coffee into a mathematical theorem (original saying due to Alfred Renyi, a colleague of the Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos). Having to wear a sweater in June is a bit of a surprise.

Books on the Go Today

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Saturday June 7, 2008 7:00 am Lethbridge, Alberta

A. Morning Musings

B. Actual Learning Activities

10:20 am

3:00 PM