I dislike it when they start talking too much like it's a storybook. Well, perhaps I don't care either way with math. I mean, whatever floats people's boats. But what really gets at me is when history books are written like storybooks. That drives me crazy, because then you're putting a narrative on things, and a narrative requires some bias. It requires someone telling people what the overall story is, and what the objective of history is, which I would prefer students to decide for themselves while looking at sources that just recount the facts. Perhaps it's okay when the author of the book comes out with a thesis. That's understandable, but...I'm getting way off topic.

24601

Of course they're fiction. You take one number, put it together with another number, and poof! A completely different number. That's SORCERY is what that is. If black magic isn't fiction, then I just don't know what is.

Of course they're fiction. You take one number, put it together with another number, and poof! A completely different number. That's SORCERY is what that is. If black magic isn't fiction, then I just don't know what is.

Not Sorcery, it is actually more like something else that begins with "S", but I can't mention it without breaking any rules.

Today seems to be hate-on-Maths-textbook day, weirdly enough. I had an avidly maths-loving friend complaining about them and how they always say in 20 lines what they could have said in two. I thought it was pretty amusing given I'd seen this blog entry earlier.

Gotta feel sorry for these textbooks. Just so they don't develop a complex I'll complement one. At least they...uh...stay on subject?

 

Of course they're fiction. You take one number, put it together with another number, and poof! A completely different number. That's SORCERY is what that is. If black magic isn't fiction, then I just don't know what is.

Not Sorcery, it is actually more like something else that begins with "S", but I can't mention it without breaking any rules.

 

I dislike it when they start talking too much like it's a storybook. Well, perhaps I don't care either way with math. I mean, whatever floats people's boats. But what really gets at me is when history books are written like storybooks. That drives me crazy, because then you're putting a narrative on things, and a narrative requires some bias. It requires someone telling people what the overall story is, and what the objective of history is, which I would prefer students to decide for themselves while looking at sources that just recount the facts. Perhaps it's okay when the author of the book comes out with a thesis. That's understandable, but...I'm getting way off topic.

 

24601

I do enjoy it if the topic is approached with a certain light-hearted tone, because sometimes the simpler way is just so much more understandable; however, I of course also see why someone wouldn't like that.

However, I pretty much agree with you on the history thing. The narrator's perspective can influence the readers a lot. :/

But no, off-topic-ness isn't bad, especially when it's about books. Discussing books is nice. :3

Of course they're fiction. You take one number, put it together with another number, and poof! A completely different number. That's SORCERY is what that is. If black magic isn't fiction, then I just don't know what is.

*siiiiiigh*

 

Of course they're fiction. You take one number, put it together with another number, and poof! A completely different number. That's SORCERY is what that is. If black magic isn't fiction, then I just don't know what is.

Not Sorcery, it is actually more like something else that begins with "S", but I can't mention it without breaking any rules.

 

No, not really, if you mean what I think you mean.

Today seems to be hate-on-Maths-textbook day, weirdly enough. I had an avidly maths-loving friend complaining about them and how they always say in 20 lines what they could have said in two. I thought it was pretty amusing given I'd seen this blog entry earlier.

 

Gotta feel sorry for these textbooks. Just so they don't develop a complex I'll complement one. At least they...uh...stay on subject?

I disagree, I never said that I hate math-textbooks. On the contrary, I enjoy them! It's just the fact that reading them is exhausting that I don't like. :/

And we should declare an international hug-a-math-book-day! To make the poor books feel better...

 

I'm not sure whether I want to try figuring the second word out or not. Maybe I could anyway if I learned some sorcery.

 

 

 

~ ~

 

 

Sorcery is always a good thing

Math textbooks can be fun! My favorites are the ones that are aware of how dull they are and try to compensate. I was once in a math class (statistics maybe?) where our textbook had an exercise involving people's consumption of fish (I think something to do with how much fish they ate as part of their diet or something, I don't remember). But anyway, next to the problem it had a picture of a barracuda or some other vicious fish with the caption "We did an image search for "man eating fish" and this is the first thing that came up." Made my day.

Hopefully you'll use Griffiths for your upper level physics classes (if that's what you're planning to go into); he loves throwing in sarcastic comments and leads the reader through as though he's standing along side you. He's far better at explaining material than any of the three graduate texts I've used...