标签：mathematics

How to Fall in Love with Mathematics

Life & Notes2006.06.03
How to Fall in Love with Mathematics
I have never lost interest in anything I once fell in love with. Even when it was not yet love, but merely a passing fondness or interest, the same was true: my hobbies always multiplied. For example, in my freshman year I was drawn to philosophy, psychology, and wandering over to Weiming Lake; in my sophomore year, to religion, philosophy of science, and memorizing Tibetan mantras by rote; in high school, to popular science books, wuxia novels, and philosophy in the first year, to history and turn-based strategy computer games in the second year, to economics, Japanese animation, and buying books in the third year; in middle school, to physics;…
philosophy everyday life Peking University mathematics
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2006年6月3日
Demonstrating Chaos with Excel!

History of Science & Scholarship2006.04.28
Demonstrating Chaos with Excel!
ExhibitingChaos withExcel! For popular science purposes, the advantages of using Excel to demonstrate chaos are obvious: first, Excel is a “household” piece of software, installed on almost every computer, so there is no need for users to specially download fractal software; it is right there at hand. Moreover, Excel is idiot-proof to operate and requires no programming skills whatsoever. At the same time, Excel makes it very easy to generate graphics, and converting them into images, Word documents, PPT files, web pages, and so on is all very convenient. For those encountering fractals for the first time, hands-on operation with Excel is obviously the most direct way to experience them….
science mathematics science communication chaos
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2006年4月28日
Education, Reform, and Egalitarianism

Culture & Public Commentary2006.04.13
Education, Reform, and Egalitarianism
A while ago, the presidents of Renmin University and other universities raised the issue that the government’s policies toward Peking University and Tsinghua University are too heavily tilted in their favor. The government’s preference for Peking University and Tsinghua is indeed very obvious, showing up not only in financial support but mainly in the enormous tilt of admissions policy. This tilt in admissions is especially evident in Shanghai’s college entrance examination system: in Shanghai, Peking University and Tsinghua are the so-called “zero-choice” option, separate from the other preferences, with applications first processed for the zero-choice option and only afterward allocated among the others. In other words, you might as well…
culture China education mathematics
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2006年4月13日
[Eng] Peter Singer: “Fermat’s Last Theorem—A Mystery That Puzzled the Wise of the World for 358 Years,” translated by Xue Mi, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, February 1998

History of Science & Scholarship2006.04.09
[Eng] Peter Singer: “Fermat’s Last Theorem—A Mystery That Puzzled the Wise of the World for 358 Years,” translated by Xue Mi, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, February 1998
[English] Peter Singer: “Fermat’s Last Theorem—A Mystery That Puzzled the Wise of the World for 358 Years,” translated by Xue Mi, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, February 1998 I don’t really have much time to read light books, but just then I happened to be back in Shanghai and saw this book on the bookshelf. I picked it up for a quick look, and then I simply couldn’t put it down; I had to read it straight through in one go. It was absolutely wonderful. Although I had already learned something about the history surrounding Fermat’s Last Theorem through other reading, this book is a thematic treatment. It is very well…
book reading notes history mathematics
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2006年4月9日
Brief Notes from the First/Third/Fourth Day of Classes in the New Semester

Life & Notes2006.02.23
Brief Notes from the First/Third/Fourth Day of Classes in the New Semester
A Brief Note on the First Day of the New Semester’s Classes Xingding posted on 2006-02-20 22:12:01 1. Liu Zhuanghu: Set Theory — Teacher Liu is very likable. Unlike Xing Taotao, who paced back and forth slowly in front of the blackboard, Teacher Liu dashed rapidly back and forth… I copied the textbook; at first glance, set theory still seems like a difficulty one can bear. Set theory is quite important. If one is studying philosophy of science and technology, one must understand science; it is unacceptable to stand on a humanistic position and speak in airy abstractions while having no understanding of science at all. One can begin to…
philosophy everyday life philosophy of science religion
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2006年2月23日
The Significance of Mathematics and Logic for Philosophy of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2006.02.22
The Significance of Mathematics and Logic for Philosophy of Science
The mission of philosophy of science and technology is to “reflect” on science and technology. It is to use philosophical thought to explore topics such as the meaning, foundations, significance, value, and influence of science and technology. Of course, an important prerequisite for carrying out reflection is that one must have some understanding of scientific activity. As the saying goes, “One does not know the true face of Lu Mountain, because one is in the mountain itself” (不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中): even the most seasoned natural scientist may not necessarily have a complete understanding of the question of what science is. And to step outside science in the narrow sense and observe it…
philosophy science philosophy of science mathematics
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2006年2月22日
Sun Xiaoli, editor: Philosophical Debates on Modern Science

Philosophy & Thought2006.01.27
Sun Xiaoli, editor: Philosophical Debates on Modern Science
Sun Xiaoli, ed.: *Philosophical Disputes in Modern Science*, 2nd ed., Beijing University Press, August 2003, (editor in charge: Su Xiangui~~, Gu Weiyu) Du XunSun Xiaoli: New Features of Modern Mathematics Pages 8–9 While mathematics was moving toward “specialization” and “complexification,” many ideas in the major disciplines were gradually becoming unified, and the boundaries among the major disciplines were becoming increasingly blurred. Therefore, although the content of mathematical science is immensely abundant and its scope enormous, the holistic conception of mathematics has reappeared, and workers in all kinds and branches of mathematical science have once again realized that they are engaged in a common undertaking. ////——This is good news. Liu Xiaoli:…
philosophy book reading notes philosophy of science
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2006年1月27日