"Arnie Macy" wrote in message ...
"Dwight Stewart" wrote ...

Math is not my forte. I got through the classes, but had to struggle every
single step of the way. In fact, I still struggle with it to some extent to
this day, so I'll obviously never be anything close to an expert on it.
Perhaps I need to do what most do and simply avoid situations involving
serious math.
__________________________________________________ __________

When I was in high school, I absolutely hated math. And not unlike you, I
tried to avoid it as much as possible. But for some reason, the light came
on when I entered college. As much as we might hate it, math does play a
rather large roll in Amateur Radio.

Arnie -
KT4ST

I think that a lot of people who imagine themselves to be "poor" at
math are actually the result of poorly written math books and
less-than-stellar math teachers.

I had the good fortune to have an *exceptional* math teacher in high
school. He taught algebra and trigonometry. I was in his 9th and 11th
grade classes.

His attitude was simple: *Anyone* who could be in high school could
get an A in his class if they knew how to add, subtract, multiply and
divide. All the rest was practice and understanding a few definitions.
Most of all, he made you believe you could do it. "Can't" simply did
not exist in his classes.

Typical test: 40 to 60 problems in a 45 minute class. Sometimes as
many as 80. Problems like factoring polynomials, simplifying complex
trigonometric expressions, etc. And yes, some of us got perfect
scores. Not often, but often enough to know it was possible for us.

We thought he must have been some sort of math genius because he would
do things like multiplying two four-digit numbers in his head, and get
an answer that was either spot-on or very close. In a few seconds. But
when we researched his education, it turned out that he was an English
major! His real skill was not in math at all, but in communicating
clearly. And this was in a working-class school with 40-some teenage
kids.

One day he derived a rather odd looking formula on the board. "Lads",
he said, "this is the quadratic formula, which can be used to solve
any quadratic equation expressed in standard form. I expect all of you
to know it like your name. Can you do that?" We all nodded.

And the lesson continued with how to use the formula.

Next day he walks in, points to a kid and says "What's you're name?"

Kid stands up and says "Bill Gallagher"

"Sit down!" He points to another kid, same question, similar answer.

Finally a third kid gets the idea and kind of stammers through "umm,
negative b minus..."

"Sit down!"

Of course none of us could rattle it off - and he called on every
single one of us.

"Lads", he said "I'm shocked and disappointed. You were supposed to
know that formula like your name."

You can bet that the next day we all knew it.

And to this day, if anyone who had that teacher encounters another of
his students, we will be able to rattle off the formula *and use it*
with no problem. And that's not just those of us who went into
engineering or science or math, but the kids who became lawyers,
doctors, businessmen and policemen, etc.

That's the power of a good teacher. Imagine if they were all that
good.

Of course, I had a bit of an advantage. I'd learned the elements of
trigonometry (sines, cosines, and a few other things) and some very
basic algebra on my own, in order to understand what was in the ARRL
Radio Amateur's Handbook, build my radios and get my Advanced class
license at the age of 14 - before I ever set foot in high school.

73 de Jim, N2EY