Why should you read my blog? I hope to answer this question, and a few more, over the next few paragraphs.
I currently attend sixth form, equivalent to American high school, in London, studying A Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Amongst these subjects, I lean heavily towards maths. I find it to be a discipline in which freedom is inherent: an infinity of experiments may be conducted with no more than pen and paper.
This brings me to the reasons responsible for the conception of this blog. Despite the apparent ease with which one may explore maths, all too often the path is unwittingly guarded by a lumbering, ugly, stupid troll. Born by mathematicians’ lack of need to converse in the lower, weaker form of their language used prior to university, he has been nurtured by an academic internet constructed in small part by the uninitiated. Scaling his back demands searching for the meaning of a seemingly endless quantity of symbols and terminology, and is destined to end in failure due to lack of prerequisite understanding. I hope to cut a small trail, lying to the side of the path, and share it such that it may augment and intertwine with your own.
As a student, I’ve always found it tempting to launch ahead and try to learn topics which are far above my current ability, if only for the bragging rights. This is not completely unfruitful as an endeavour, but it is hard work, and I was often left with little to show for it. As an alternative, I’ve found that picking my starting place as something covered in class, and exploring from there, is a more yielding approach, and one which often leads to learning new maths anyway. I believe the success of this strategy lies in the familiar foundation, which allows respecting the constructive nature of maths. It is this exploration starting from solid understanding that I mean by that which lies beside the path; and what I hope to aid in, is making this exploration accessible.
Additional to my desire to help fellow students, I have other, more selfish, reasons for starting this blog. Certainly not insignificant is the fact that I will soon be subject to the scrutiny of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, and concrete evidence of labours beyond those required by the curriculum will do my applications no harm. Beyond that, I am also aware that should I wait until I have truly original contributions to give to the subject, I will not be able to share my work for at least the greater part of a decade. I am simply not that patient! Hopefully, this pastime, conducted while I await circumnavigation of our troll, will prove to have some worth.
This is to be a blog of high school mathematics, and thus it is important to say that I am not a teacher or a professional. This is not intended as a textbook or a revision guide, but rather a forum between me and other students with a similar interest. Welcome to my blog, where I hope to publish my explorations, and instantiate my belief that ‘There should be no such thing as boring mathematics.’ ~ Edsger Dijkstra