Mindset QCCQ

Quote:

"Here'show failure motivated Sergio Garcia, another golden boy with mindset issues. Garcia had taken the golf world by storm with his great shots and his charming, boyish ways; he seemed like a younger Tiger. But when his performance took a dive, so did his charm. He fired caddie after caddie, blaming them for everything that went wrong. He once blamed his shoe when he slipped and missed a shot. To punish the shoe, he threw it and kicked it. Unfortunately, he almost hit an official. These are the ingenious rmedies for failure in the fixed mindset."

Comment/Connection:

I think it is rather strange to blame a bad performance on a shoe. How much can shoes possibly contribute to a swing in golf? Then again, I said that I wouldn't touch the fish until I got my hands on shoes that weren't dress shoes. But at the same time, the shoes that you wear do have a contribution to how high you jump. Being that I can't run or jump that well in dress shoes, and that I can do so much better in tennis shoes, I think my statement was justified. That being said, I could have at least attempted it before getting my hands on tennis shoes. It wouldn't have really damaged the dress shoes in any way...

Question:

How could I apply this to math? Math is pretty black and white. If I can't figure out a problem, then that is my own fault. I can't blame my pen. I guess I might be able to place some blame in regards to a lack of concentration on my outside environment, but if I can't figure out a problem, the only blame I can really place there is on myself.

Leibniz QCCQ

Quote:

"In 1673 he made one of his most remarkable discoveries, the infinite series expansion

pi/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - ..."

Comment:

When I was reading through the text, this really caught my eye because this was a series that I recognized and always thought was very cool and useful for various circle-involving problems.

Connection:

Just before reading this text, I was doing simple calculations with this series and thought it was very cool that it didn't converge to the most commonly used approximation of pi (3.14) after many steps into the series. Like a rubiks cube, everything works out after the last step. I thought it was cool to find this in the text after just working with it.

Question:

I wonder if we will be using this in the future, since the text mentioned that it had to do with calculus? 

Newton QCCQ

Quote:

"In 1696 Newton left Cambridge for London to become Warden (and soon Master) of the Mint, and during the remainder of his long life he entered a little into society and even began to enjoy his unique position at the pinnacle of scientific fame. These changes in his interest and surroundings did not reflect any decrease in his unrivaled intellectual powers. For example, late one afternoon, at the end of a hard day at the Mint, he learned of a now-famous problem that the Swiss scientist John Bernoulli had posed as a challenge "to the most acute mathematicians of the entire world." The problem can be stated as follows: Suppose two nails are driven at random into a wall, and let the upper nail be connected to the lower bu a wire in the shape of a smooth curve. What is the shape of the wire down which a bead will slide (without friction) under the influence of gravity so as to pass from the upper nail to the lower nail in the least possible time? This is Bernoulli's brachistochrone ("shortest time") problem. Newton recognized it at once as a challenge to himself from the Continental mathematicians; and in spite of being out of the habit of scientific thought, he summoned his resources and solved it that evening before going to bed. His solution was published anonymously and when Bernoulli saw it, he wryly remarked, "I recognize the lion by his print.""

Comment:

This quote made me smile, unlike the rest of the text, and so I thought it deserved to be recognized for that reason. Two things about this quote I found to be cool and describe Bernoulli and Newton very well. The first being that although Bernoulli made this problem as a challenge "to the most acute mathematicians of the entire world", Newton solved it after a rough day right before going to sleep. One might compare this to something as simple as having a snack before going to bed. The second being that although Newton posted the work anonymously, Bernoulli immediately knew that it was Newton who solved the problem.

Connection:

 I would not say that I have nearly the equivalent intellectual ability as Newton or Bernoulli, so I don't exactly have much of a personal connection to this quote. I do however, hope that one day I will be creative, innovative, and smart enough to have a personal connection to a story such as this one.

Question:

How is it that Bernoulli knew immediately that Newton was the one who turned in the answer. That seems like it takes some serious detective work.