re: 17 Equations that changed the world

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It’s shocking that Georg Ohm is not included in this list

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There was a bit too much resistance amongst committee members.

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Black-Scholes Equation

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So that's how hey figured out where I got my shoes at.

Newton's dorky arse ruined my young adulthood.

The power of several current committee members impeded the nomination of Ohm’s law.

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But alot of the items you use everyday were invented or built using the science from these equations.

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That's propaganda put out by Engineering departments.

Does Navier-Stokes have something to say about aircraft lift? Sure.

Were the Wright Bros. capable of solving the Navier-Stokes equation, let alone use it in developing the Wright flyer? No, or the very most, probably not.

Ah yes, brings back some fond memories of undergrad where I barely use any of the three levels of calculus required at LSU.

If I’m working on an application or systems programming requirement, where you deal with design of a system or a website with given requirements differential equations are very rarely used. However, when working on an application with computer graphics, you might come across a situation where you need to solve a differential equation involving motion.

Another domain, where scientific computing is required you have to simulate a physical event by numerically solving a differential equation describing their physical behavior. Mechanism simulation, numeric solving requires the application of differential equations, especially PDE’s, Partial Differential Equations.

Set Theory and Boolean Algebra are are used more on my end throughout my day to day. Boolean Algebra is used more widespread to refactor logical IF statements.

Surprised Bayes’ theorem or DeMorgans Law isn’t on the list. Bayes’ Theorem is the concept behind most, if not all, spam filters used in Java. You use De Morgan's Law when optimizing and checking your conditionals. Public-Key Cryptography is why online transactions are secure and wouldn't be possible without concepts like the Binomial Theorem and Fermat's Little Theorem.

Just tried to read about the Black-Scholes Equation since it was the most recent. Jesus that made me feel like a dumbass. Still have no idea what it is.

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That's asking a lot. I can't imagine most middle school math teachers knowing how the Pythagorean theorem is derived.

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I give them a little bit more credit than you. They've got to pass analytical geometry in most states (not to mention the entire Calculus sequence and Diff. Eq.) to get a middle school math teaching certificate.

At some point, their professors in college had to have shown them the implications of cutting a square along the diagonal.

Now, whether or not they remember what they learned when they got into the classroom, I dunno.



Edit: My guess is that a lot of people who major in secondary education concentrations of math/science probably graduate with the same level of mental sharpness as undergraduate who straight-up major in just those math/science disciplines without going into education.


What ends up happening though is that education majors quickly lose their sharpness because they have to learn to dumb it down for the students. If you try to educate your students on how to mathematically derive the Pythagorean theorem from the implications of cutting a square along the diagonal, parents are going to come down on you for teaching "over the kids' heads" and principals are going to tell you to teach to the test.