Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic
I’ve discussed reading and writing several times but not ‘rthmetic. It tends to be the third wheel out of the bunch, which is unfortunate because my bachelor’s degree is in mathematics. It was my favorite subject growing up, and I taught math for five years before starting a tech career. I should do something with it.
Last fall, I decided to reacquaint myself with the math I learned in high school and college. Given that I majored in math, this is an ambitious undertaking. I needed to start somewhere, so I chose College Algebra at Khan Academy. That was a wise decision. I’ve used Khan Academy off and on for many years. Their math curriculum is excellent.
I followed up College Algebra with Precalculus and chased that down with Differential Calculus, which I’ve nearly finished. I plan to exhaust the Khan Academy offerings by studying the following:
- Integral Calculus
- Differential Equations
- Linear Algebra
- Multivariable Calculus
After that, I may take some time to learn R and MATLAB. Then, I want to study applied math in data science, AI, machine learning, and other disciplines. Finally, I may watch lectures on advanced mathematical topics like combinatorics, modern algebra, topology, and analysis. MIT OpenCourseWare on YouTube is an excellent resource.
The math reunion tour will likely be a years-long journey as I’ll do it in my often limited spare time. And I don’t have a destination per se. One does not reach the end of math, after all.
To infinity and beyond!
