Re: [math-fun] another blot on Stanford
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables? I grew up in a large family, and my siblings drilled these tables to one another; it became a bit of a game, and didn't really take very long. If someone had asked us to memorize the sqrt table, we probably would have done that, as well. I also recall doing a prime sieve by hand shortly after learning how to count, because I was fascinated by how random the results were. We now know that the capacity of human memory is easily in the Gigabytes, so there's no worry about filling up a limited capacity. At 12:37 AM 2/13/2015, Bill Gosper wrote:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/stanford-professor-says-memorizing-multipl...
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
Many years of hard study for me just to be able to squeak by. I had to return to it years later, as well, to complete the process -- I didn't memorize all of it originally, I just used various identities along with what I had learned. Not everyone is gifted with a good memory. Charles Greathouse Analyst/Programmer Case Western Reserve University On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
I grew up in a large family, and my siblings drilled these tables to one another; it became a bit of a game, and didn't really take very long.
If someone had asked us to memorize the sqrt table, we probably would have done that, as well.
I also recall doing a prime sieve by hand shortly after learning how to count, because I was fascinated by how random the results were.
We now know that the capacity of human memory is easily in the Gigabytes, so there's no worry about filling up a limited capacity.
At 12:37 AM 2/13/2015, Bill Gosper wrote:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/stanford-professor-says-memorizing-multipl...
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My daughter is good at math. But when she makes mistakes, I like to remind her that of all the skills a working mathematician needs, speed and not making mistakes are fairly far down the list. Being able to recognize mistakes and fix them requires much deeper cognition than avoiding them in the first place... Cris On Feb 13, 2015, at 9:12 AM, Charles Greathouse <charles.greathouse@case.edu> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
Many years of hard study for me just to be able to squeak by. I had to return to it years later, as well, to complete the process -- I didn't memorize all of it originally, I just used various identities along with what I had learned. Not everyone is gifted with a good memory.
Charles Greathouse Analyst/Programmer Case Western Reserve University
On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
I grew up in a large family, and my siblings drilled these tables to one another; it became a bit of a game, and didn't really take very long.
If someone had asked us to memorize the sqrt table, we probably would have done that, as well.
I also recall doing a prime sieve by hand shortly after learning how to count, because I was fascinated by how random the results were.
We now know that the capacity of human memory is easily in the Gigabytes, so there's no worry about filling up a limited capacity.
At 12:37 AM 2/13/2015, Bill Gosper wrote:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/stanford-professor-says-memorizing-multipl...
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My family taught me the multiplication tables at home. But I was terrible at arithmetic in school because I made lots of mistakes. As a result I hated arithmetic, and thought I hated math since that's all math seemed to be at the time. But then I found Irving Adler's "Magic House of Numbers" in the bookmobile, and everything changed. --Dan
On Feb 13, 2015, at 8:12 AM, Charles Greathouse <charles.greathouse@case.edu> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
Many years of hard study for me just to be able to squeak by. I had to return to it years later, as well, to complete the process -- I didn't memorize all of it originally, I just used various identities along with what I had learned. Not everyone is gifted with a good memory.
Charles Greathouse Analyst/Programmer Case Western Reserve University
On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
I grew up in a large family, and my siblings drilled these tables to one another; it became a bit of a game, and didn't really take very long.
If someone had asked us to memorize the sqrt table, we probably would have done that, as well.
I also recall doing a prime sieve by hand shortly after learning how to count, because I was fascinated by how random the results were.
We now know that the capacity of human memory is easily in the Gigabytes, so there's no worry about filling up a limited capacity.
At 12:37 AM 2/13/2015, Bill Gosper wrote:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/stanford-professor-says-memorizing-multipl...
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Yes! That was a marvelous book. --ms On 13-Feb-15 11:29, Dan Asimov wrote:
My family taught me the multiplication tables at home.
But I was terrible at arithmetic in school because I made lots of mistakes. As a result I hated arithmetic, and thought I hated math since that's all math seemed to be at the time.
But then I found Irving Adler's "Magic House of Numbers" in the bookmobile, and everything changed.
--Dan
On Feb 13, 2015, at 8:12 AM, Charles Greathouse <charles.greathouse@case.edu> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
Many years of hard study for me just to be able to squeak by. I had to return to it years later, as well, to complete the process -- I didn't memorize all of it originally, I just used various identities along with what I had learned. Not everyone is gifted with a good memory.
Charles Greathouse Analyst/Programmer Case Western Reserve University
On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables?
I grew up in a large family, and my siblings drilled these tables to one another; it became a bit of a game, and didn't really take very long.
If someone had asked us to memorize the sqrt table, we probably would have done that, as well.
I also recall doing a prime sieve by hand shortly after learning how to count, because I was fascinated by how random the results were.
We now know that the capacity of human memory is easily in the Gigabytes, so there's no worry about filling up a limited capacity.
At 12:37 AM 2/13/2015, Bill Gosper wrote: http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/11/stanford-professor-says-memorizing-multipl...
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| Realistically, how long does it really take to master the multiplication tables? Realistically, one needs only the tables for 2 through 9, since 0 and 1 are so trivial, and 11 and 12 are not necessary to be able to multiply. That's 8x8 products. But identifying a x b with b x a leaves only 36 things to memorize. I don't think anyone, at home or in school, ever used a picture of a rectangle of dots to illustrate multiplication (and enabling one glance to explain why a x b = b x a). Or a rectangle of anything! But that should certainly be part of teaching multiplication!!! How many of us have, many times, met someone at a party or on an airplane who said: "Math? I always *hated* math!" Shouldn't we try to do something about this? --Dan
Nah. I vote we keep it for ourselves. We can organize secret meetings and wear funny hats! --Rich ----- Quoting Daniel Asimov <asimov@msri.org>: <clip>
How many of us have, many times, met someone at a party or on an airplane who said:
"Math? I always *hated* math!"
Shouldn't we try to do something about this? <clip>
Well, can we at least discuss the hats? --Dan
On Feb 13, 2015, at 10:12 AM, Rich <rcs@xmission.com> wrote:
Nah. I vote we keep it for ourselves. We can organize secret meetings and wear funny hats!
Quoting Dan <asimov@msri.org>:
How many of us have, many times, met someone at a party or on an airplane who said:
"Math? I always *hated* math!"
Shouldn't we try to do something about this?
Cross-cap for you, Dan. WFL On 2/13/15, Daniel Asimov <asimov@msri.org> wrote:
Well, can we at least discuss the hats?
--Dan
On Feb 13, 2015, at 10:12 AM, Rich <rcs@xmission.com> wrote:
Nah. I vote we keep it for ourselves. We can organize secret meetings and wear funny hats!
Quoting Dan <asimov@msri.org>:
How many of us have, many times, met someone at a party or on an airplane who said:
"Math? I always *hated* math!"
Shouldn't we try to do something about this?
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I knew the multiplication tables before they were taught to me in 4th grade (somehow; I cant remember how). Somewhere along the way I formed a distinction between math as it was in interesting books I found in the library (martin gardner, mainly), and math as it was taught in school. i grew up in a little town in nebraska and when i went to a university i was stunned to meet professors who knew about the "math in the books", rather than simply "math as in the school." i honestly had not even the slightest suspicion that any such knowledge might exist in living, reachable human beings....certainly i had never met such a person. which seems amazingly blinkered to me now, but my surprise then was genuine. it was as if i'd studied some obscure language and had gained some elementary knowledge of it and then suddenly learned that it was spoken fluently by everyone in a slightly larger town down the road. On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 11:17 AM, Dan Asimov <asimov@msri.org> wrote:
Dear Fred,
On Feb 13, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
Cross-cap for you, Dan. WFL
Ha! That's exactly what I was thinking, too!
Best,
Dan
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-- Thane Plambeck tplambeck@gmail.com http://counterwave.com/
participants (10)
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Charles Greathouse -
Cris Moore -
Dan Asimov -
Dan Asimov -
Daniel Asimov
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Fred Lunnon -
Henry Baker -
Mike Speciner -
rcs＠xmission.com -
Thane Plambeck