First Impressions
Today marked my third day of classes. Here are my first impressons regarding each:
Calculus III:
An introduction to the world of 3-dimensional coordinate systems and multivariable calculus. Unfortunately, my professor has been out of town this week and I have yet to meet him. Since I am retaking this class to improve a previous grade, it is unlikely that I will have much difficulty. For a mathematics major, I am surprisingly weak in methods of integration, so if complex integrands come up, I may be in for a ride. This course will prove to be a much needed review and will greatly improve the stability of my mathematical foundation.
Differential Equations II:
DE2 will serve as an introduction to partial differential equations and boundary-value problems. The professor is Dr. Jan Zijlstra, one of my favorite teachers at MTSU, and the same instructor I took DE1 with. There are only seven students in the class, all of which are math majors. Resultingly, the atmosphere is very light at personable. Thus far, we have derived the heat equation from some basic facts from physics. The first hurdle will be to solve this equation. As a fan of applied mathematics, I am already enjoying this course.
Abstract Algebra:
So far, nothing has been covered in this class, but I did get the chance to look over the book. Abstract is certainly the right word for this course. Fans of mathematical theory and logical thinking will love this one. Over the course of the semester, I will get a thorough treatment of group theory, a touch of Galois theory, and a brief introduction to ring theory. All of these are very interesting as they are active fields of contemporary mathematics. Even better, Dr. Krishnamani, my professor, encourages student research by allowing an optional research project to be substituted in place of a test.
Number Theory:
Even more abstractions. This will be my first advanced course in pure mathematics. In our first class meeting, Dr. Sinkala presented the one fact that we are allowed to know: the well-ordering principle. The well ordering principle states that every nonempty set of positive integers contains a smallest number. Using this principle, we will presumably construct everything else. I am still a little unclear as to what number theory is really all about, but I'm sure that will change over the course of the semester.
Microeconomics:
Yet another general education class. I believe this will be the last one. There really isn't much to be said about this one. Markets, supply, demand, etc. Fortunately for me, economics is one of the most scientific and mathlike areas of business, so I should feel quite at home.
Calculus III:
An introduction to the world of 3-dimensional coordinate systems and multivariable calculus. Unfortunately, my professor has been out of town this week and I have yet to meet him. Since I am retaking this class to improve a previous grade, it is unlikely that I will have much difficulty. For a mathematics major, I am surprisingly weak in methods of integration, so if complex integrands come up, I may be in for a ride. This course will prove to be a much needed review and will greatly improve the stability of my mathematical foundation.
Differential Equations II:
DE2 will serve as an introduction to partial differential equations and boundary-value problems. The professor is Dr. Jan Zijlstra, one of my favorite teachers at MTSU, and the same instructor I took DE1 with. There are only seven students in the class, all of which are math majors. Resultingly, the atmosphere is very light at personable. Thus far, we have derived the heat equation from some basic facts from physics. The first hurdle will be to solve this equation. As a fan of applied mathematics, I am already enjoying this course.
Abstract Algebra:
So far, nothing has been covered in this class, but I did get the chance to look over the book. Abstract is certainly the right word for this course. Fans of mathematical theory and logical thinking will love this one. Over the course of the semester, I will get a thorough treatment of group theory, a touch of Galois theory, and a brief introduction to ring theory. All of these are very interesting as they are active fields of contemporary mathematics. Even better, Dr. Krishnamani, my professor, encourages student research by allowing an optional research project to be substituted in place of a test.
Number Theory:
Even more abstractions. This will be my first advanced course in pure mathematics. In our first class meeting, Dr. Sinkala presented the one fact that we are allowed to know: the well-ordering principle. The well ordering principle states that every nonempty set of positive integers contains a smallest number. Using this principle, we will presumably construct everything else. I am still a little unclear as to what number theory is really all about, but I'm sure that will change over the course of the semester.
Microeconomics:
Yet another general education class. I believe this will be the last one. There really isn't much to be said about this one. Markets, supply, demand, etc. Fortunately for me, economics is one of the most scientific and mathlike areas of business, so I should feel quite at home.
posted by Patrick at
22:24
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