Interested in one bonus point?? Please click on the "Say Goodbye to Conics" link to the right. Read, then leave a short post (please include your name!!). The bonus point has nothing to do with the content of your post, but rather the act of getting on the blog and then leaving a post in response to this delightful reading that I'm offering...
Also, please find the link to the outline of today's lesson (2/23/10)on the right. As stated in class, the understanding of these Algebra topics is ESSENTIAL to success in Calculus. This stuff will never go away (literally as well as figuratively... remember that from here on out, all tests will be cumulative...Yes, that's how important this stuff is!!) Please spend the time necessary to insure complete understanding of each type of problem listed in the outline.
Looking forward to your posts!!
I don't like Hypatia, because of her, we have to do this stupid chapter and the impossible test... But I guess it's very important for the discovery, so I guess I will thank her... and the bonus point!~
ReplyDelete-Erica Chan
Because of cruely act of people at that time, we lost one of the most honored mathematician in the world. If she lived longer, she would have found many other theories in Algebra.
ReplyDeleteJanin Kuwijitsuwan [block 3]
mr.8880@hotmail.com
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletePoll:
ReplyDeleteShould we forget about conics for another 1200 years?
A: Yes.
B: Can we make it longer?
C: What's a conic???
D: All of the above.
- Andrew Socha
I found this article interesting because I have never heard of Hypatia before. I admire the strong passion that she had for mathematics and science.
ReplyDelete- Kristina (3rd block)
Although I personally do not particularly enjoy conics or foresee myself using it in my future career, the subject is apparently useful for applications in physics so at least we know it's not completely pointless. (I believe when we asked Dr. Gaw about it, he told us that conics were mostly used in aeronautics and ship-building.) Despite the fact that the idea duck was researched in the scholarly city of Alexandria, it is intriguing that an ancient Egyptian (let alone an ancient Egyptian woman) investigated the basic concepts of conic sections and algebra, especially given the societal strife due to social change in Egypt in the time period. Hypatia's work with liquids and astronomy also further augments her ability, which must have been remarkable even for the scholars of Alexandria (given that she had to have researched all these things within in the span of around 20-25 years and that she was a female academic in a likely primarily male-dominated academic setting). It is unfortunate, however, that she was murdered by a duck mob over religion. Who knows what other research she could have done in the few years that she would have had left (which probably wouldn't have been that long anyway since the life expectancy can't have been particularly high)? Either way, Hypatia has made her mark on mathematical and scientific history, which just goes to demonstrate the remarkable capacity for thought in the ancient world.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if anyone was wondering, I did write "duck" randomly in the middle of the post (twice) just to see if anyone would actually read that obnoxiously long passage (and amuse anyone who actually did). Heh-heh...
---Amelia Chen
I read the article, and its cool that a woman thought of this stuff more than 1500 years ago. Also, its interesting how history shows the growth of human knowledge that leads up to today. I still don't really see how knowing about conics will ever benefit me in life, except that maybe I've broadened my mind to encompass new ideas. Regardless, I am happy to be finished with them. Goodbye conics, I won't miss you.
ReplyDelete-Ben Berson
It's interesting that there was mathematics such as conics in the ancient world, and that even then it was a something of interest that could be applied to daily life.
ReplyDeleteJenny~4th
I should've known it was a woman that plagued the earth with conics. This is the reason that only men were allowed to study mathematics and science, because women make everything too complicated. I neither admire nor thank Hypatia, and therefore I feel like I just watched television. There goes three minutes of my life that I spent learning about another woman I hate, time that I should have spent living. At least I got a bonus point.
ReplyDeleteDavid G. (who else would it be?)
P.S. - Mrs. Overby is awesome and would never waste time, hence making her the revolutionary woman in math that advances the human race. She, in fact, solves problems - guys (who are sinful, hence sin) like spending time with girls (the cos) and they mean what they say, but girls like to spend time with each other and they never mean what they say. That has become the guide to my life along with:
THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST (not attributed to Mrs. Overby, but she would have said it, I'm sure)
I wish that 415 marked the end of just conics, not mathematics and science
ReplyDeleteDaniel N
I think Hypatia was a great woman. She is an inspiration because she proves that woman can be very intelligent. She did was a a mathematician, scientist, and a teacher. She could have discovered more if only she wasn't killed because she was true to the old religion.
ReplyDelete-Winnie Truong-
I never thought conics were that old, but I still wish they were never created. However, I can also see the importance of them for advanceing society with complicated math.
ReplyDeleteMichael P.
Mrs Overby, here's a suggestion. How about you multiply the one bonus point by 10, and all of us can get 10 bonus points. Wouldn't that be very generous? Remember, this suggestion is supposed to persuade you to give us more bonus points. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteOr better yet. Make an input/output table by making x the number of bonus points that will come out by y; except, for every x there is 10 y's. Plug in 1 for x and get a 10 for y; therefore, our bonus points increase by increments of 10. Now, how cool is that!
I will not be using Conics ever (except for Calc 1, 2, and 3 in college...darn):)
ReplyDeleteP.S.--the previous comment was also mine.
Jairus Bryant
Score:
ReplyDeleteMobs-1
Ancient Egyptian Mathematicians-Zero
A pity, really. Astrolabe is such a fun word.
-Christopher Tiberius Zephyr Catanzaro Camie III
Nice see to see that Hypatia was able to help both the science and math fields. Pity that her life was cut short, she could have done so much more!
ReplyDeleteColin Weidinger
Hypatia shoulda stayed in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI kid, I kid.
I didn't like conics, but they are important, and I never thought they were invented so long ago.
-Amar G
Very interesting, and tragic, but she was definitely a genius whether other people decided to accept that or not (and amazing for this time period)
ReplyDeleteBut on the other hand, conics can be very annoying... but they could be useful if you happen to be going into a very very very specific field... I give her a lot of credit, if we didn't even understand learning it, she must have been way more than a genius to discover that!
-Rachel B (3rd Block)
I didn't realize conics were used soooo long ago, in 370! Also, I hate conics, but I guess they're useful in the real world (for planet orbits and paths of comets).
ReplyDeleteShelley Freiberger
I liked how the article had to include what conics were used for anyway. I had no idea why anyone would even need/want to know this stuff. Not that I plan to use them any time in the near future (or far future) but it is nice to know they have a purpose and aren't just used as a method of torture. :)
ReplyDelete-Kelly
I had no idea that Conics dated back so far in history. It also suprised me that women such as Hypatia were allowed to be educated, but maybe that idea of not educating women was more of a Western World idea.
ReplyDelete- Kevin O'Gorman
It's really cool how she excelled in both math & science and she discovered the whole conics branch of geometry, 'cause i know i would have never thought of putting a plane and a cone together to see what shapes i can get. although the math that goes into solving conics takes forever, it was interesting to learn about them and know that they are actually useful for stuff like the orbits of planets and the motion of rockets.
ReplyDeleteGrisel Escobar
(aka) your daughter :)
I wonder how and why the university she went to attracted people from different continents...considering communication back then
ReplyDeleteI doubt that 415 was the end of ancient mathematics because math is always being used. Those scholars don't know what they are talking about saying that the year 415 represents the end of ancient math. That's terrible that a mob went up to her and killed her. What was the "old religion"?
Anthony
It's a pity that she was killed before she could make more of an impact on science and mathematics.
ReplyDeleteMichael Oldroyd
I think that it's pretty ridiculous and awesome that egyptian mathematicians were able to compute quadratic equations back then.
ReplyDeleteHowever, i must agree with all of the earlier comments: Conics equal nothing i ever want to do again. I will probably never need them again (except for the final). Thanks for the bonus point!
-Zach W
It is reasonable to infer from the passage that the "old religion" refers to a belief that conics are important. It is fairly obvious why she was executed for believeing in this. Although, it is interesting that an egyptian woman was studying multi-solution equations so far back in history. What the text failed to mention was that Hypatia's death was an attempt to put an end to the evil that is conics and unfortunately the egyptian government was unable to put a complete end to its reign in our modern math curriculum. Pity...
ReplyDelete-Michael Berkowitz
This was very interesting. Although I do feel sad for Hypatia because she could have taught people much more. That being said I am not sad to be finished learning about conics.
ReplyDelete-Lexi Dressel (3rd Block)
Reading this story greatly saddened me to learn that one of our heros we all look up to died in the name of mathematics. Therefore, I am declaring February 26 to be National Hypatia Day and we will remember our friend who brought this joy of conics into our lives.
ReplyDelete-Aaron Hummert (3rd Block)
It sounds like Hypatia was a smart woman. If she hadn't died, she may have invented some more useless stuff that are unimportant in an individual's daily life. However, I am amazed by her intelligence, considering she found out this broad topic when she lived during the 400s.
ReplyDelete- Krunal
I would have preferred that conics hadn't found their way back to us.
ReplyDelete-Drew A.(4th)
I think she was a very cool lady! It is mind boggling to think that she thought of conics that long ago..and i agree with aaron, we should have a national hypatia day!
ReplyDelete-Morgan Denlow (3rd block)
Its good to know how conics can be put to use. I now know what fields to stay away from in the future.
ReplyDelete-Michael Jolley(3rd Block)
I didnt know conics were so old.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn Bumberry
I think it's amazing that she figured all this out so early, let alone that she was woman because educational opportunities were rare for women at the time. And the inventions that she thought up! I dislike conics as well, but it's still such an inspirational story.
ReplyDelete~Stephanie Zhang
I found this article interesting because I have never heard of Hypatia before and because of what she has done in the fields of math and science. But I hate conics and I hope that I never have to use them again.
ReplyDeleteManisha Reddy (4th Block)
It is cool that conics was invented in Egypt so long ago. Hypatia must have been a real smart woman to come up with the complex equations for conics. Its a shame that she wasnt recognized for her work when she was alive.
ReplyDelete-Soe Naing(4th Block)
According to the article, Hypathia was not well knownw and deserves to be known for her work. She should be known as the "mother of algebra." It is incredible that a woman was able to figure out algebra such a long time ago.
ReplyDelete-Sana Syed (3rd)
I tried to post a comment earlier but i'm not sure if it worked so i'll just try again...
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that a woman was so important to math so long ago but it's unfortunate that nobody recognized her acheivements.
-Jodie Guller
Riya Kurian
ReplyDeleteI think it is unfair that she did not get credit for her work even though i hate conics. It shows how women/men equality matters are unfair.
This stuff is pretty cool. Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteDavid Scholten
I think that Hypatia should have stuck to measuring the positions of stars and planets and the distilling of water. However, I do commend her on her work with conics because of how difficult this stuff was.
ReplyDeleteNick Zellmer