Hello Oz,

I also am of the 60's era and without calculus pursued a very rewarding
engineering career. Today I see students quite intent on the study of
calculus. Most seem to be first and second year university students working
toward mechanical and electrical/electronics fields.

To what end are they working? Do you mean calculus is not necessary or that
it has been surpassed by another form of mathematics?

Thank You

Jim Curts


"Oz" wrote in message
...
Dennis G. writes

Oz quoted

The Ministry of Defence has had to offer remedial maths for applicants
with a "C" (middle grade) in GCSE (age 15) maths because they found they
were often baffled by fractions.

Coventry University's tests have shown that a "B" grade in "A" level
maths is about the same or worse than an "N" (fail) in 1991.

This particular whinge has the longest legs in history. Every generation
finds a
reason to complain that they had a much better education than the current
crop
of students.

Sometimes this is true, and sometimes false.
In this case some evidence is given.

the belief kept the teaching of Latin as a living language alive
until long after the last Roman Emperor's final bacchanal.

That was primarily because it continued as a lingua franca for
centuries, particularly in universities which were derived from a Roman
Catholic basis.

So science moves forward with nanotech, wi-fi, genome analysis, cloning
the
bauteng, creating new materials and rightly ignores the critics.

Let's take a small example. In my day (60's) calculus was expected if
you were to achieve one of the higher A level grades in physics. No
longer.

When a test or experiment fails to represent reality, it is the testing
that
must change.

Ah, you mean if the evidence disagrees with your view it must be
destroyed.

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
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