Blog #5: Newton Reading

Quote: "Newton was always an inward and secretive man, and for the most part, kept his monumental discoveries to himself. He had no itch to publish, and most of his great works had to be dragged out of him by the cajolery and persistence of his friends."

This quote really stood out to me because for one, I never really knew that this was the type of person that Newton was. Secondly, it just goes to show that people who are loud and "flashy" about their work and new discoveries are not the only ones that get recognized and appreciated for their work. However, with the motivation and help of his friends, Newton was able to come out of his shell and finally publish his work. I believe that that was probably one of the best things that he could've done, because it led to more opportunities.

Question: In the reading, there were a lot of emphasis put on the large amount of Newton's discoveries, from calculus to the colors of the rainbow and light in general. So, the question that came to mind, was what motivated Newton to want to study and discover math material that is so difficult and complex? I mean, I know he liked studying math as a a whole, but usually people start to gain interest about certain things through different situations, and I'm curious to know what those situations are.

Comment: Overall, I think that the reading was interesting. As a youth of today, I rarely take the time to learn a little bit about the people who have brought about the different types of math that I learn about and use today. So it was nice to gain more information about that.

Blog #4: Bryson Reading (chapter 5-6)

Rocks, earth, yea it all matters,

our 6th planet is the wonderful Saturn.

thanks to Hutton, he found new things,

soil, volcanoes, maybe diamond rings.

science is the key, we really need it,

Open up your brain, then you can see it.

Kelvin and John tried to figure out the Earth's age,

but now it's your turn, time to hit the math stage!

Blog #3: Bryson Reading (chapter 4)

Quote: ....."Conceal it for some time, that others might know how to value it."

*This quote, said by Hooke, stood out to me because I was able to agree and engage with it. It's usually true that when someone has a secret, people that want to know it becomes more anxious and interested. I think that this belief of his really helped him to mold his way of living and perspective of communicating and portraying his thoughts to people.

Question: Why was Hooke valued for taking credit for ideas that weren't his own?

*This question came to mind because I just don't understand why anyone would want to be valued for something like that. It would've been a lot better for him to come up with his own ideas, so that people could potentially value him as an individual, and even more interesting as the first person to describe cell.

Comment: For the most part, this chapter of the reading was interesting. Sometimes when we as students think about scientist and mathematicians, we don't necessarily take the time to think about the obstacles and long days and nights that they went through to give us the math and science tools that we are currently able to use and learn from today.

Blog #2: Bryson reading (chapter 2-3)

Quote: "Space, let me repeat is enonnous. T he average distance between stars
out there is 20 million million miles."

--> This quote stood out to me because I never really knew how far away the stars really were. Whenever I'm out at night, and stars are out, they always seem to be so close....but in reality, they're not. The quote just goeos to show that space truly is another large world, that's full of interesting things and information.

Question: How do researchers began to estimate how many stars are in the milky way? What specific tools and methods do they use to calculate and come up with such a large number?

--> For example, in the packet it said that estimates range from 100 billion or so to perhaps 400 billion. And even though this may be true, I know there are ways that they came up with that number, and I'm unclear how.

Comment: Overall, I enjoyed reading the packet. Similar to what I said in my response about the first chapter, I never really thought about the stars in the sky, and the world that exists beyond the clouds, besides heaven. I think that it's amazing how much time and effort astronomers and researchers spend to learn, observe, experience, and discover new thing. But hey, id someone is passionate about something, they will put the time and effort in to support and learn more about their passion.

Blog #1: Bryson reading (chapter 1)

Quote: "Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn't easy, I know."

---> The reason why this quote stood out to me, was because those are words that I would like to hear from colleges that I want to attend. Getting into college is a hard process, and I know that college admissions are aware of that. Another reason why I chose this a quote is because the author wasn't even referring to college when he wrote this, but I was able to still make the connection. It sort of illuminated more of the fact that you can actually apply amost every aspect of math, to aspects of the real world.

Question: How and when do you know if discoveries by researchers and scientistis the "actual" discovery? In other words, when a researcher or scientist finds a solution to something, how do you know if the solution is accurate enough to use in school lessons, such as math, and experiments?

--> For example, in the reading Penzias and Wilson were unsure about a hissing noise in one of their discoveries, and all of a sudden Dicke came up with an explanation about it. I mean, I know he probably had evidence, but I still wonder what process he used to come up with explanation.

Comment: I think that overall, the reading was good. I never knew that you could go into so much detail about an atom. I feel like when I'm just doing regular things in life, I never really take the time out to think about the math and science behind the make up of my body. However, after reading this article, I got a little bit motivated to want to have more of an open mind for the body.