Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site tove.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!pesnta!greipa!decwrl!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!tove!dsn From: dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Re: Intelligence Message-ID: <262@tove.UUCP> Date: Thu, 4-Jul-85 15:32:46 EDT Article-I.D.: tove.262 Posted: Thu Jul 4 15:32:46 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jul-85 05:36:15 EDT References: <456@ttidcc.UUCP> <457@ttidcc.UUCP> <1586@hao.UUCP> Reply-To: dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) Organization: U of Maryland, Laboratory for Parallel Computation, C.P., MD Lines: 82 In article <523@ttidcc.UUCP> hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) writes: > >... business, policy analysis, medicine, accounting, etc. Whatever. The list wasn't intended to be exhaustive. >[Psychology] did require advanced courses in statistics and >experimental design. These were taught with a very practical orientation >that assured we knew how to correctly apply the techniques whether or not >we could prove them. Actually, I wish I had had a course like that--it would be pretty useful to me right now. But for topics like, say, queueing theory and pattern recognition, I think a bit more theoretical background is required. >(The calculus proofs were presented, but we weren't >required to derive them). Perhaps I misunderstand you, but that's typically what's done in intro calculus. >>I think your question could be asked about nearly all college courses--both >>required courses and electives. > >How could it apply to electives? Sorry--I interpreted your question to mean "what use is it for people to take calculus, if it isn't going to be used later on?" >Anyway, it's one thing to require >introductory courses in a broad range of subjects in the interest of a well >rounded education. It's something else entirely to require a difficult >course in advanced mathematics for people who will never need it. First, intro calculus isn't "advanced mathematics"--in fact, some people have argued that it's not even "real" mathematics! Typically, it is a "cookbook" course, in the sense that it concentrates more on teaching techniques than on teaching the theoretical reasons why those techniques work. Second, I don't think it's valid to draw a distinction between calculus and those other introductory courses. Intro chemistry and physics, for example, are just as difficult, and just as likely not to be needed later. Where I went to school, calculus was a prerequisite for intro physics. >> The courses teach not only what is taught >>explicitly, but also ways of looking at the world and ways of thinking. > >Does calculus do this better than, say, economics or logic or psychology? >Differently, perhaps, but I think not better. I certainly agree. >I intend to take (and pass (-: ) the CDP exam in December. >All without a degree in CS and without having studied calculus. (I have >been through several certificate programs through UCLA Extension). I hope the exam goes well. Obviously you didn't need a computer science degree. :-) >> ... I get frustrated when I present a proof >>in a senior-level data structures course and most of the students tell me >>they don't know how to do proofs using quantifiers. > >Forgive my ignorance, but would this ability have any practical use for >anyone other than a mathematician or advanced researcher? Someone who works at a company in the DC area came to me a few weeks ago with a programming problem which had come up in her work. In a few minutes, I saw that the algorithm she had in mind for the problem wouldn't work, and showed her why. I couldn't have done this without my mathematical abilities (note that I don't necessarily mean calculus). To be fair, I should point out that although she wasn't what I would call an "advanced researcher", she WAS doing scientific programming. Such mathematical skills would probably be less useful for business programming. (But at Maryland, someone who wants to do business programming should get a degree from the Business School, not the Computer Science Department). -- Dana S. Nau, Computer Science Dept., U. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 ARPA: dsn@maryland CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn Phone: (301) 454-7932