On Sat, 2003-02-01 at 19:18, Casey Rousseau wrote: > Damien Sullivan wrote: > > > [snip] > > Of course, my life has been such that I got to view calculus > > as basic math, properly possessed by anyone around me. Yes, > > this attitude leads to problems as I meet more people... > > But of course calculus is basic math. Before that it's all arithmetic and > geometry. :) In college, I had the fortune to take a math class that showed how to derive the real numbers and modern mathematics from very limited set theory-- just a handful of basic postulates and lots of logic were all it took to get to arithmetic, calculus, and beyond. At that point, I finally understood why *every* year in grade school, math started out with a week of set theory and then dropped the topic like a hot potato: they were trying to pass on this beautiful vision, but were utterly failing to do so. -- %% Max Rible % slothman at amurgsval.org % www.amurgsval.org/~slothman/ %% %% "Before enlightenment: sharpen claws, catch mice. %% %% After enlightenment: sharpen claws, catch mice." %%