Rocket Science and Dyslexia.

I am currently steaming ahead through TMA03 (coursework paper for my Open University Course MST121, Using Mathematics).

Yesterday, all was going well, until, I hit a 'word' maths question, involving a Space Rocket.  This is the type of question that proposes a problem, in words alone, and then you need to apply equations that you have learnt, to solving the problem.  This is instead of the more usual: here is an equation, solve it for X, type of question.

Now I have, so far,  been coping better than I personally expected, with the maths at University.  It seems that the further away from 'calculating' and the more into learning 'concepts' and theorems that I move; the more I seem to be gaining a real and deep understanding, of the equations.

Anyway, I have dyslexia and I know, from years of living with it, that I have a serious problem with decoding written words.  This includes word problems in maths.

Now, for the first time, I reached one of those questions in TMA03, yesterday.  It was a taste of modelling a Rocket Science problem involving a space vehicle launch.  The question expected the use of calculus to derive a selection of important distances and velocities, at key times.  Enter Mr. Newton, his calculus, gravity and other important equations.

Well I sat yesterday, for nearly 4 hours, and I just couldn't work out what the question was asking.  The calculus, I can do.  I mean, I have been practising some pretty complicated problems, over the last few weeks.  But this one really stumped me.  It wasn't involving difficult maths; I just couldn't decode the words and work out what the question was asking.  This wasn't a problem with the maths; this was a problem with word comprehension.

Anyway, after sulking for 4 hours and then having an early night; I got up this morning, returned to my books and started to search my growing collection of maths texts and DVD's, to see if any of them could offer some hint of how to proceed.

Jackpot:  I remembered that my Teaching Company, Calculus Lectures, by Professor Bruce Edwards, contained a lecture that used an example involving a particle in motion.  The Lecture was entitled: Basic Differentiation Rules, and the example was at the end of the lecture.  It described a Swimmer, diving off a dive-board.  I watched the example and then, the penny dropped (Jedi stirrings)?  I now knew how to proceed.

I ran (literally) back to my books and started scribbling furiously.  Within 40 minutes, I had a credible answer to the TMA question.  Now, none of my DVD examples or maths texts gave an exact replica of my TMA question; but just the act of putting down the books, sleeping, returning with fresh eyes and searching available maths sources; allowed me to work it all out, for my self.

This is probably the best I have felt about my Maths journey, to date.  The maths wasn't difficult, it was just nice that everything came together, at the last minute, to solve a problem that was more personal than mathematical, in nature.  It was that dyslexic 'shadow' that has a habit of trying to beat you down, but in doing so, it sometimes has the opposite effect.

So, bring on more of those Rocket Science problems!  I have my books, Isaac Newton and Bruce Edwards by my side.  What could possibly go wrong?