Some blog followers might be interested in a discussion-list post “Do ‘Alien Species’ Exist in the Universe? What's the Drake Equation Have to Say? #2” [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Guy Brandenberg and I, in an exchange on EDDRA2, each erroneously assumed the intent of the other’s posts. The misunderstandings could have been avoided had Brandenberg, in response to my post “Do ‘Alien Species’ Exist in the Universe” at http://bit.ly/1kHEm0i , written something like:
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“Alien species” may or may not exist in the Universe, but at least we now know the answer to the question “Is there life on Mars?” It’s YES. We know this because NASA and the Soviet space agency sent it there on rovers etc.
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Brandenberg (2014b) went on to write at http://yhoo.it/1fciR0J: “We are, however, beginning to fill in some of the ranges of some of the variables in the Drake equation, and alien life is definitely a possibility in my mind. . . . . . . .”
But in “ ‘Where is Everybody?’ Failure to Detect Intelligence in the Universe is Due to Failure of Universities Throughout the Universe” [Hake (2013)] at http://bit.ly/H3roIC (6.8 MB) I wrote:
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According to Goldsmith and Owen’s The Search for Life in the Universe http://amzn.to/ij9jKj: “When we multiply all the factors . . . .[[in the Drake Equation http://bit.ly/16MYTZ2]]. . . .together, we find that the result for the number N of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy now with communication ability and desire equals L/40, where L is the lifetime, measured in years of a civilization once it has developed the ability and desire to communicate with others.” Suppose L = 200 years, as appears likely for Planet Earth, . . . . .[[According to Wikipedia, Guglielmo Marconi http://bit.ly/1c4nqeL started transmitting long distance radio waves in the early 1900s.]]. . . .. then N = only 5 civilizations in our galaxy are trying to communicate with us. . . . . . . .[[or effectively zero (0) within the considerable margin of error]]. . . .
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To access the complete 57 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/1hltBvl.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University; Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands; President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII); LINKS TO: Academia http://bit.ly/a8ixxm; Articles http://bit.ly/a6M5y0; Blog http://bit.ly/9yGsXh; Facebook http://bit.ly/9yGsXh; GooglePlus http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE; Google Scholar http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3; Linked In http://linkd.in/14uycpW; Research Gate http://bit.ly/1fJiSwB; Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs http://bit.ly/9nGd3M; Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52.
REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 22 Jan 2014.]
Hake, R.R. "Do 'Alien Species' Exist in the Universe? What's the Drake Equation Have to Say? #2" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/1hltBvl.The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Showing posts with label Guy Brandenberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guy Brandenberg. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Do We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?
Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “Do We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?” [Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Einstein on Testing” [Hake (2013)] at http://bit.ly/UHjqET the following lively exchange was recorded on the archives http://yhoo.it/iNTxrH of EDDRA2 [non-subscribers may have to set up a “Yahoo account” as instructed at http://yhoo.it/iNTxrH]:
a. Literature major and Standardista-basher Susan Ohanian http://www.susanohanian.org/ stated that she (paraphrasing) “never seemed to gain any insight from solving the calculus problems in Courant’s text, which struck her then as plodding and now as without meaning.”
b. Susan Harman then opined (my CAPS) “WE LEARN ALL THE MATH WE NEED FOR ORDINARY LIFE BEFORE 5TH GRADE.”
c. Guy Brandenberg countered by calling attention to David Berlinski’s Tour of the Calculus http://amzn.to/11sZIUv whose publisher states: “Were it not for the calculus, mathematicians would have no way to describe the acceleration of a motorcycle or the effect of gravity on thrown balls and distant planets, or to prove that a man could cross a room and eventually touch the opposite wall.”
d. Then Susan Ramlo pointed that students in her algebra-based physics class “almost always make a comment about how suddenly . . .[[after exposure to the real-world of physics]]. . . much more of calculus makes sense.”
With regard to Harman's opinion that “We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade,” basic to “ordinary life” is motion and change, requiring the rudiments of calculus for proper understanding (see the Bartlett signature quote).
And I agree with Ramlo’s point about students’ better understanding calculus after exposure to the real world of physics. In “Interactive-engagement methods in introductory mechanics courses” at http://bit.ly/aH2JQN I wrote: “the term substantive non-calculus-based mechanics course is an oxymoron.”
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To access the complete 13 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/10sYmKl.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
Twitter: http://bit.ly/juvd52
“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand exponential change.”
- Albert Bartlett http://bit.ly/VpN2pm [I have taken the liberty of substituting “exponential change” for Bartlett's more esoteric “the exponential function.”]
REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 13 Jan 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. “Do We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/10sYmKl. Post of 13 Jan 2013 16:52:01-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
*******************************************
ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Einstein on Testing” [Hake (2013)] at http://bit.ly/UHjqET the following lively exchange was recorded on the archives http://yhoo.it/iNTxrH of EDDRA2 [non-subscribers may have to set up a “Yahoo account” as instructed at http://yhoo.it/iNTxrH]:
a. Literature major and Standardista-basher Susan Ohanian http://www.susanohanian.org/ stated that she (paraphrasing) “never seemed to gain any insight from solving the calculus problems in Courant’s text, which struck her then as plodding and now as without meaning.”
b. Susan Harman then opined (my CAPS) “WE LEARN ALL THE MATH WE NEED FOR ORDINARY LIFE BEFORE 5TH GRADE.”
c. Guy Brandenberg countered by calling attention to David Berlinski’s Tour of the Calculus http://amzn.to/11sZIUv whose publisher states: “Were it not for the calculus, mathematicians would have no way to describe the acceleration of a motorcycle or the effect of gravity on thrown balls and distant planets, or to prove that a man could cross a room and eventually touch the opposite wall.”
d. Then Susan Ramlo pointed that students in her algebra-based physics class “almost always make a comment about how suddenly . . .[[after exposure to the real-world of physics]]. . . much more of calculus makes sense.”
With regard to Harman's opinion that “We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade,” basic to “ordinary life” is motion and change, requiring the rudiments of calculus for proper understanding (see the Bartlett signature quote).
And I agree with Ramlo’s point about students’ better understanding calculus after exposure to the real world of physics. In “Interactive-engagement methods in introductory mechanics courses” at http://bit.ly/aH2JQN I wrote: “the term substantive non-calculus-based mechanics course is an oxymoron.”
***************************************************
To access the complete 13 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/10sYmKl.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
Twitter: http://bit.ly/juvd52
“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand exponential change.”
- Albert Bartlett http://bit.ly/VpN2pm [I have taken the liberty of substituting “exponential change” for Bartlett's more esoteric “the exponential function.”]
REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 13 Jan 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. “Do We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/10sYmKl. Post of 13 Jan 2013 16:52:01-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
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