Math, The Way It Should Be (Unit 0: The Beginning)

I have encountered many people who are not good at math. There are a number of reasons for this, many of them perfectly legitimate. Perhaps learning more math never seemed useful, perhaps a teacher wasn't able to explain fractions very well and things went downhill from there. My intention at this point is to start at the very beginning (waaaaay at the beginning) because I firmly believe that a lack of foundation is the root of many people's trouble with mathematics.

Why am I doing this? Reason number 1: math is part of the way I look at the world. At a sufficiently high level, the math becomes a beautiful expression of the way the world works. If the universe were an Italian opera, mathematics is Italian. You can enjoy it without the language, but there is something rewarding to me about getting as much of the full story as possible. Reason number 2: math is surprising useful. All it takes is a little creativity in application and all of a sudden you're making things a lot easier!

Right now, I estimate that there are going to be 12 units, each with multiple parts (this introductory post doesn't count as a unit). This is not intended to replace education, but if you've stopped where you left off, hopefully I can give you a little more understanding. Don't skip topics, they're very important because I'm going to go in the order that makes the most sense after looking back on my own mathematics education. That leads me to my next point: this series of posts is dedicated to the people who made me the mathematician I am today: Mrs. Peck, Mrs. Wells, Ms. Graves, Mr. Atherton, Mr. Alexander, Mr. McGowan, Mr. Anthony, Professor Volkov, Professor Humi, Professor Mosco, and Professor Mitrea.

One last thing: there will be homework, but it won't be collected for credit. This week's assignment: brush up on your times tables. If this is the only thing you get out of this series, it will have been completely worth it.

-Lane