Blind-sided by LA5, Pure Mathematics.

I thought I would just quickly comment on the difficulty of the later units of the M208 section on Linear Algebra.  It was a real shock, how quickly it all became so abstract and a little bit counter intuitive in some parts (matrix arithmetic when diagonalising).

The whole Linear Algebra offering, was a really good example of a time where you, absolutely, must master the first 3/4 of the material, before even hoping to understand the last 1/4.

I did enjoy it, but I think it may take me the next year or so, to re-read, think about, and then finally absorb some of the finer subtleties of this subject.

I hope it doesn't take too long though; as I will probably need to apply it all, next year, if I finally register for Quantum Mechanics (The Quantum World) with the O.U in October 2013.

I am already on the look out for any interesting / classic Linear Algebra reference texts, to add to my creaking bookshelves.  I think, as with most of these subjects; that enrichment by reading widely, without necessarily increasing the difficulty of the material, is the key to understanding.

TMA03, Away...

Finally, after an extremely difficult week, I have managed to get TMA03 finished and in the post.  It was a little late, with a 3 day extension, but I am glad to say that I was able to finish late on Friday, post it Monday morning and make headway with the new shining, wonderful, solid and oh so delicious, Analysis Units for M208.

I don't know why, but I love Analysis.  Having said that, I have already pre-studied Brannan's, 'A First Course In Analysis', which the O.U Analysis Units, are broadly based on.  I found it exciting and elegant.  Much better than Group Theory at the beginning of the year (I still have nightmares).

I have also taken some good advice from my friend Chris, who suggested that I print off the audio transcripts for the course, rather than go through the pain of listening to some stranger, attempting to lead me through the material.  It's working well, so far, as I have nearly finished Unit AA1 and will start AA2 on Thursday.

Anyway, I sort of have some bad news that could also be slightly fortunate, in a strange way.  I am just about to go under the knife, for a herniated spinal disc.  Bottom line?  I will be off work for at least 2 months.  What's good about that?  I'll have about 12hrs a day to read mathematics, finish off Tolstoy's War and Peace, get my Rubik cube times down; and last but not least, catch up on some exciting enrichment material in Calculus (Spivak).

Summer, here we come!

Normal Service to Resume Shortly

Just a quick post.  I am working hard towards completing TM03 of M208, and now just have the last question to answer, which is all about working out standard form quadrics.  I am a bit behind on my reading (still half of Unit LA5 to read; as, due to a family bereavement, I have been quite distracted this week.

Anyway, I will complete TMA03 and start the Analysis section next week, on time; after a short period of solitary reflection.

Audio Sections; Contributing to Confusion.

I am 3/4 of the way through writing TMA03, using Mathtype for word.  I have to say, that having spent approximately 20hrs using Mathtype, now;  it is becoming very much a breeze, to use.  The results of using it are nicely typed, automatically well formatted maths equations.

With regards to the content of TMA03, I did find it a real mixed bag of difficulty.  I found most of it relatively straight forward, except for the question on orthogonality.  I found myself in a real twist for about 6hrs, before working out what I needed to do, in order to find an orthogonal basis for a subset, that they had given.

I think what really threw me, was the increasingly annoying way that the O.U secrete an 'audio' section into the units, with cryptic accompanying notes, to guide your path.   I am not a purist, by any means.  I do enjoy occasionally learning in ways that are not connected with reading dusty old text books; but these audio sections are driving me insane.

I could understand the use of them, if they were needed to describe intricately subtle ideas, that wouldn't be apparent from just reading a text book; but my experience of the O.U's treatment of this format, leads me to the conclusion that they are just used to read out what is already written on the page of notes.  Hardly helpful!

They are an unnecessary distraction, in my view.  I believe that the use of an audio section in the 'Orthogonality of subspaces' section, has contributed to my confusion on TMA03; and I fear that there are more audio sections, to come.