Welcome to my Adventures in Mathematics:
a thinking-pad for a book-to-be on my journey through the abstract
This is the place where you can read my latest thoughts and excerpts from my book proposal, and book-to-be. You can think of the content below as a guide to the rest of the blog. I hope that you will find it an entertaining journal!
Update 1: 21/01/13
After a somewhat long delay, for which my only excuse is that I want this book treatment to be perfect,I am going to dive in with some thoughts...
Mind-mapping and a couple of treasury tags have revolutionised my approach.
My first thought, when musing on how to go about writing this book was how should I structure it? What should I put in it? How can I make it entertaining to read? In what order should I arrange the contents?
In an attempt to answer these questions, I have devised a mind-map.
After a somewhat long delay, for which my only excuse is that I want this book treatment to be perfect,I am going to dive in with some thoughts...
Mind-mapping and a couple of treasury tags have revolutionised my approach.
My first thought, when musing on how to go about writing this book was how should I structure it? What should I put in it? How can I make it entertaining to read? In what order should I arrange the contents?
In an attempt to answer these questions, I have devised a mind-map.
Please click on the images to enlarge
Below are brief summaries, based on the four branches of the map:
(i) Introduction
The introduction could tell the story of how I came to decide to embark on a maths degree- or maybe this should be contained in Chapter 1? I use the analogy of a 'process of deduction', because this is how the idea was born. So what exactly is the book going to be about? Some thoughts which came to mind and gave me the impetus to make this decision were: an interest in form and clarity and how mathematics itself could logically make decisions- the beauty of this. What a fact is. Discovering different ways of thinking. Tony Buzan's books led me to thinking about how 'organization' could lead not only to success, but to different structures that could be examined. Originally, I was inspired by the idea of creating 'a filing system for my life'- from this I could optimise my life and my career. But this 'filing system' became an object of interest in itself, and I became more interested in what hid in-between those cracks. I include a brief introduction to the contents of the book below, which I mapped from 'branch' (ii).
(ii) Contents
Throughout the book, aim to depict mathematical discoveries I've made over the past few years, and also the obstacles that I have faced, and that I still face. This is my personal experience of learning maths, and throughout I intend to infuse the text and the images with humour and my own personal interpretation. I found, as I was studying maths, that discovery is integral to understanding a topic- sometimes you have to learn to see it your own way.
Throughout the book, aim to depict mathematical discoveries I've made over the past few years, and also the obstacles that I have faced, and that I still face. This is my personal experience of learning maths, and throughout I intend to infuse the text and the images with humour and my own personal interpretation. I found, as I was studying maths, that discovery is integral to understanding a topic- sometimes you have to learn to see it your own way.
(iii) Approach
Order is central to my approach to creating this book, or course. I aim to keep the text to a minimum, and illustrations to a maximum. One strand of the book will take the form of a 'learning file', which will be a reflection on my actual learning file which I have kept going since January 2009, when I started the maths degree. This will dictate the structure and content of the book, but interwoven in-between this material could be excerpts from my life- interludes of a less abstract nature, mathematical questions which I consider interesting. At the cross-roads- what life will be like after the degree- my ambitions.
Order is central to my approach to creating this book, or course. I aim to keep the text to a minimum, and illustrations to a maximum. One strand of the book will take the form of a 'learning file', which will be a reflection on my actual learning file which I have kept going since January 2009, when I started the maths degree. This will dictate the structure and content of the book, but interwoven in-between this material could be excerpts from my life- interludes of a less abstract nature, mathematical questions which I consider interesting. At the cross-roads- what life will be like after the degree- my ambitions.
(iv) Strategies
I think of this book as an illustrated journal, which may one day become a book. My new years resolution is to finally produce a book treatment which is presentable enough to send out. I aim to (but may not succeed to) update this blog daily- adding contributions to potential chapters, ideas and random sketches which spring to mind. The form that this book will take may change over time- and the beauty of this blog will be that I can keep track of my progress- and you can read it and (hopefully) be entertained!
Contents of this blog- some suggestions for now
1. Introduction- updated here
2. Chapters- excerpts
3. Contents with links- updated here
4. Strategies- ideas for how to approach this project
5. Research- useful resources
6. Moving Picture Pad- my thoughts- animated
7. A Retrospective Learning File- a map of my mathematical explorations so far
I think of this book as an illustrated journal, which may one day become a book. My new years resolution is to finally produce a book treatment which is presentable enough to send out. I aim to (but may not succeed to) update this blog daily- adding contributions to potential chapters, ideas and random sketches which spring to mind. The form that this book will take may change over time- and the beauty of this blog will be that I can keep track of my progress- and you can read it and (hopefully) be entertained!
Contents of this blog- some suggestions for now
1. Introduction- updated here
2. Chapters- excerpts
3. Contents with links- updated here
4. Strategies- ideas for how to approach this project
5. Research- useful resources
6. Moving Picture Pad- my thoughts- animated
7. A Retrospective Learning File- a map of my mathematical explorations so far
