> > Too many programmers think that they don't need linear algebra because
> > they are not going to compute eigenvalues. It is like thinking that one
> > does not need to be taught classical literature or poetry because
> > he/she is not going to become a writer.
>
> It's like thinking that you don't need to read Virgil in Latin, or Homer in
> Greek, or Tagore in Bengali, because you aren't going to be a poet.
>
> It's like thinking you can afford not to know how to lay bricks because you
> aren't going to be a mason.
>
> It's like thinking you don't need to learn how to turn a breech calf because
> you aren't going to be a farmer.
>
> Every kind of knowledge is at the center of knowledge.
Ability to read Virgil in Latin is a kind of knowledge, in the same way as the skill
of laying bricks.
Reading good books and learning mathematics is not a knowledge. One can easily
forget most of mathematic courses shortly after graduating, but one should be
taught them.
Mathematics is not a knowledge, it is a discipline.
David
