School Was Good This Week

So, I have been going through this agonizing decision again between math and physics. The only conclusion I can make is to do both. That may not be the correct conclusion, but if one falls out. I have the other.

I had a great week in school (Even though I had to miss physics Tuesday). Math got cool. We looked again at the Taylor series and complex numbers a little. I get very excited when I get to learn about complex numbers because I am so curious and can't let myself go learn that while in the middle of a semester.

Physics was equally cool. One question I did ask in class was, "When do we get to learn that?" The answer was, if you are a physics major either mechanics or relativity (there were two subjects) and if you are not a physics major, you probably wont. It was about how F=ma breaks down at different velocities, and relative velocity when the inertial frame of reference is in the same frame as the observation. (Something like that)

I wrote on my pad of paper I carry around to not forget ideas.. while in class. I ended up asking Bob anyway rather than looking it up. "How can we observe the acceleration of the universe if we are IN the universe?" The answer was, we measure the velocities of other objects and we are the inertial frame of reference, but we cannot measure the acceleration of the universe.

I had a great lunch today with a math guy from work and his OA. Raj... He got his Ph D from Princeton in Math. He used to teach at WU and Rolla... What did he teach you ask? Complex math... He told me about some ideas his 'adviser' (Genius btw who had his Ph D at 19) taught him. It was great. I had a great time. He told me about some proofs... One was something about a line stretching from negative infinity to positive infinity, and that line being a circle, we would see it as a line. A circle with a point missing is a line. A sphere with a point missing is a plane. If my memory is poor I may be mis-understanding, both what happened at lunch and what happened in class. Pat said she had no idea what we were talking about most of the time, except for my interest in fractals.

My mind gets opened up to physics, and math just keeps getting more interesting. Fortunately for a physics degree there are still some math classes left.

When I finally get around to learning the stuff I am curious about, I wonder if I will come back and read this, only to find out that what I thought I remembered from class and lunch was just slightly skewed.