Jump to content

Menu

Charon's Blog address?


Recommended Posts

http://www.oplink.net/~adrian/gelf_alg.pdf

 

I've actually been working on beautifying it. I made some sort of computaitonal error on 90(h) and 122(b) could be factored out further for a nicer end result. I still need to fix those and will do so as I get to them. There is a large chunk of the solutions that are in straight text without formatting. Most of it is still formatted like you can format it in HTML. So, that means it is kind of ugly. I have just yesterday gotten, for instance, to problems where it is really helpful to have a big fraction bar. In HTML, you have to do it a little uglier than that using parentheses and a simple "/" to get the job done. In the uglier parts, I didn't even, at the time, know how to make superscripts and subscripts in HTML, so x squared would literally appear like "x^2". (Super ugly, especially with complicated polynomials.)

 

I've gone back and forth on just how I wanted to do it. At one point, I was going to do it all in LaTeX. It actually all has to do with how enamored with linux I am at any given point in time. But, now I am in my non-linux phase and am making a pdf in Word. So, I can actually pretty much get all the formatting I really need in a simple, direct, point-and-click sort of way, including big fractions, whatever symbols I might need like summation, and so on. And, as I say, I am making progress through it -- I worked on it just yesterday, even, to beautify it some more. (I think I'll just stick with pdfs from now on.)

 

I do think Gelfand has the best problems around. They're just good hard math problems and some of them are problems you might actually find in real math text books. However, it does bring up problems that cannot really be handled properly for the level of the student. (For instance, there are a number of problems where you really ought to use Mathematical Induction.) I've also found, in my many New Math texts (especially that Oakley and Alendoerfer book, for instance), a lot more problems like that. (Several of the Mathematical Induction problems, for instance, in the Alendoerfer book can be found right inside Herstien's Abstract Algebra book.) But, mostly, while Gelfand represents a single book with a lot of great problems, the New Math sequence presents a program that can lead (if you get the right books, once again) to normal math as done by mathematicians and math majors. (For instance, given what I just said about Alendoerfer, how crazy would it be to do Herstien after that? And, if it's not that crazy, then I guess you just have to know what is contained in a normal math degree at the bachelors and post-baccalaureate level to really appreciate that.)

 

(Also, note that by "New Math", I am not referring to a recent program or educational paradigm. I am referring to a paradigm shift in math education driven by mathematicians in the 60s and that had run its course and was almost completely dead by 1972.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is beautiful. So, every time you update, it seems to get a new address, which explains why the link on Myrtle's blog didn't work earlier (unless she's fixed it.)

 

Oh no...

 

I just switched it to a PDF just recently without telling anyone. LOL. I just told Myrtle -- she'll be updating her blog at some point, I'm sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...