Calculus is not one of my favourite college subjects.
I somehow managed to make Calculus rock and roll fun.
Why is the Asymptote like Jimi Hendrix?
They say keep your friends close but keep your math enemies closer.
A lively banter with my College Professor about Asymptote earned me an A in his Calculus class.
An Asymptote is mathematical concept in which a number is halved, then halved, then halved … until eternity, it will never reach a pure state of Zero.
At the end of this Blog, I’ll tell you why I equate the Asymptote with Jimi Hendrix.
Read on! Maybe you’ll develop a liking for Calculus. A Big Maybe but read on anyway,
Fun College Calculus Conversation 1 – I remember during a drinking session with a fellow Japanese college student majoring in meteorology, during a sudden lull in our conversation asked me what was relied upon to predict the weather? He proudly replied Calculus. We clunked our beer bottles and continued with our conversation
Fun College Calculus Conversation 2 – I was in my calculus professor’s office one day when I caught sight of a nicely preserved wringed (or wrung – to my English purist readers) small towel framed on a wooden plaque.
I asked the professor what was that and he proudly said it was a gift to him from his previous students as a brilliant everyday example of the concept of Asymptote.
The idea is that a wet towel gets half as wet every time it is wrung. And so on, half of half of half … But it never gets 100% bone dry.
Here’s the clincher – he said if I can come up with another brilliant example of Asymptote, he”ll award me with an A for his calculus course.
I smiled at him and pointed to the blue jeans I was wearing and said that when I bought the jeans it was true Levi Strauss blue. Then with every wash, it will theoretically become half blue and subsequently half blue and subsequently half blue with every washing BUT it’ll never reached pure heavenly sinless White.
At the end of the semester, I was not surprised to see an A grade next to my name.
The journey of a rock star is like an Asymptote. Even after a rock star dies, his/her name will live on and on and on. I’m looking at Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Miles Davis.
Moral of this Blog – keep your mind open to Calculus, who knows, it’ll transport you down a fun (endless?) rabbit hole.
