Test 1: A good ending

I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared at all about Test 1.

It wasn't because I didn't understand the material -- I was pretty well-versed on all the flavours of induction walking into the test (could've been better on well-ordering though). I was scared because I didn't know whether the math used in the questions would stump me. Past experience (i.e. CSC165) warned me that all tests contained at least one question with some kind of math that my brain refused to comprehend under a time constraint. It was really frustrating last year, because everything was sparkling clear to me except for the math -- which actually wasn't really the main point of the course. (Though I can see how that last point there can be debated.) Even more frustrating was the fact that I would come up with a solution during my long subway ride home. All I had needed was a bit more time...and perhaps a little less anxiety about math on tests.

However, I was greatly relieved when I saw the questions on Test 1 for this course. None of them had tricky math in them, and there was a clear link between the questions and the course material. After one look at the questions, I knew I could solve them in the allotted time. So, I was able to settle comfortably in my chair and actually enjoy working on the proofs -- something which I previously had been able to do only for practice or on assignments. Hey, I'll admit it -- proofs are fun. Puzzles are fun. It's why I'm in CS (and in linguistics, for that matter).

Aside/prologue: I know a few TAs (not in CS), and they all complain about how boring marking is. So, when I finish a test early, I like to add something to (hopefully) brighten the TA's day. (Actually, it's also a benefit for me -- if I leave early, I feel pressured to catch up on work for other classes. BUT, if I stay until the end of the test, I get a break!) When I got my test back, I was surprised to find that the TA had responded with a few drawings of his own:

Needless to say, the TA had made my day.

Today: Istanbul, Turkey

Logs! Oh, we're working with logarithms so much these days. Ottoman mathematician and professor Gelenbevi Ismail Efendi (1730-1790) is credited for introducing logarithms to Turkey. Interestingly, his descendant is currently an electrical engineering professor (but also taught CS a while back!).

(I promise you, by the end of this semester, you will have gained loads of probably useless biographical trivia. Yay for retaining information you'll never need again, except if you go on a quiz show!)