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Hardest maths topic you ever done? or studied?

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Reply 40

Wrangler

Roger Kirk

I like some of those areas though (such as Lie algebras and representation theory and to a lesser extent functional analysis) so their applications can be forgiven.

Ahhhh, Mathematical snobbery at its best. Rest assured all the applied mathematicians are immensely grateful for your forgiveness. :wink:

Reply 41

TSR Community Staff

Wrangler

Ahhhh, Mathematical snobbery at its best. Rest assured all the applied mathematicians are immensely grateful for your forgiveness. :wink:

They better had be grateful for my forgiveness...there aren't that many areas I can forgive for being ruined by people finding uses for it...lol

Reply 42

AlphaNumeric

Roger Kirk

I like some of those areas though (such as Lie algebras and representation theory and to a lesser extent functional analysis) so their applications can be forgiven.

They are the crux of quantum field theory and quantum chromodynamics.

Reply 43

TSR Community Staff

AlphaNumeric

They are the crux of quantum field theory and quantum chromodynamics.

Aye, but they are also good and interesting in their wonright, without the applications to QFT. Line integrals and Jacobians are not interesting. Even if you add in their applciations...

Reply 44

Wrangler

Roger Kirk

Line integrals and Jacobians are not interesting. Even if you add in their applciations...

I'm not sure if you're saying these things tongue-in-cheek, but if you're not, you certainly seem to hold your own opinion in very high regard.

Reply 45

TSR Community Staff

Wrangler

I'm not sure if you're saying these things tongue-in-cheek, but if you're not, you certainly seem to hold your own opinion in very high regard.

It's all generally just a bit of fun here, but it is based on my preferences of what bits of maths I enjoyed studying more :biggrin:

Reply 46

Wrangler

Yeah - I managed to figure out you were dismissing the things you don't personally like. It's just that my eyebrows raised a little when I saw things like "not cut out to be a pure mathematician", "engineering maths ... jacobians and other rubbish" made me jump to the mathematical snobbery line of thought.

You have to remember that there will be a lot of future maths students reading this thread, and to read someone whose been through the system totally rubbish a large proportion of undergrad mathematics might taint their opinions somewhat, before they've even started!

:smile:

Reply 47

TSR Community Staff

Wrangler

Yeah, maybe, but I'd have thought that people who seriously like maths wouldn't let the views of others affect their own opinions. I know I certainly haven't having had lived with many people who really don't like the bits I do and have tried to sway me to their side of thinking. I haven't given in though and stuck with what were the last words my further maths teacher said to me 'stick with the pure maths' All through my degree I tried to pick the modules that were the most about just the maths itself and not where you look at the maths and then use it.

I guess though not everyone will be like this and might be put off from maths. But don't be, all maths is great. It's just that some bits are much better than other bits :biggrin:

(In my opinion of course :smile:

)

Reply 48

Wrangler

Roger Kirk

Yeah, maybe, but I'd have thought that people who seriously like maths wouldn't let the views of others affect their own opinions. I know I certainly haven't...

Well, assuming everyone else isn't quite as resistant, it's just not good to blanket rubbish certain areas of maths. Especially on a Maths forum!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of the hardcore applied maths/engineering stuff, but that doesn't mean I don't have respect for it, or the people who practice it. I've also realised in the last 18 months or so the gap between pure and applied mathematics gets narrower and narrower as you do more and more. General relativity becomes differential geometry, particle physics becomes algebra, fluids becomes functional analysis etc! It's amazing how some of these deep seated areas of Pure become the bread and butter of Applied.

:smile:

Reply 49

TSR Community Staff

Wrangler

Anyway, my comments started off more personal towards a member who I know a bit about his 'maths background' than talking specifically about the maths itself. So yep, maybe I was wrong to say it on here, but there was on ill-intention behind it, just a bit of fun :smile:

Reply 50

Wrangler

Roger Kirk

Yeah, sorry - wasn't trying to jump on anyones back! At least it allowed me to ramble on a little about the applications of some of the pure stuff!

:smile:

Reply 51

TSR Community Staff

Wrangler

Yeah, sorry - wasn't trying to jump on anyones back! At least it allowed me to ramble on a little about the applications of some of the pure stuff!

:smile:

Yeah and to highlight how some people really like applied maths too.

Reply 52

Wrangler

Roger Kirk

Yeah and to highlight how some people really like applied maths too.

Oh, defo - there are plenty of them out there.

Reply 53

-Kav-

Any numerical method. I'm not sure why but I have great difficulty understanding why they actually work.

Reply 54

henryt

For some reason our teacher thought it satisfactory to teach us about Markov Chains, and I'm still in my AS year! I'm really confused!!

Reply 55

4Ed

fabuleuse

Good God. We didn't do that til halfway through 3rd year. I did understand it though. :p:

Newtonian Mechanics was the hardest course I've taken, but that was partly due to the lecturer who took it, who was very nice but completely useless at teaching.

I'm wondering if you were at the same uni that I'm at now...

I was completely baffled by Newtonian mechanics last year - the lecturer was all over the place! I'm surprised I got a high 2.1 in the exam, because the day before I took it, I still didn't understand a thing!

Reply 56

fabuleuse

4Ed

Nope, I'm in Scotland. I also got a 2:1 for that exam but the marks were inflated because nearly everyone failed. My actual mark was something like 27/60, which I was immensely proud of. :biggrin:

Reply 57