QQC Five

Quote:

“He seems to have regarded high mathematics mainly as a fruitful tool for the study of scientific problems, and of comparatively little interest itself."

Question:

If Newton had little to no interest in math, why did he continue pursuing it?

Comment:

I found this quote interesting because it poses the interesting idea that one of the most brilliant mathematicians known, actually didn’t enjoy doing math all that much. Personally, I am the type of person who believes that you should try to find enjoyment in everything you do, and you job should be one of them. The way this quote is written gives me the impression that Newton considered doing math to be the same as having a modern day office job. So that is why I wondered, why did he become a mathematician in the first place, and what made him stay one? Was it the influence of his teachers and peers? Was he paid for his work? Or was it that he just did it because it came naturally to him?

Bryson QQC Four

Quote:

"Hutton's Theory of the Earth is a strong candidate for the least read important book in science (or at least would be if there weren't so many others)."

Question:

Why is it that so few books about science are read? How many science books are considered to be commonly read or a "must read"?

Comment:

I found this quote interesting for multiple reasons. One reason was that while I was reading about Hutton's Theory of the Earth, I was actually very interested in the topic. In complete honesty though, when it showed us an actual passage written by Hutton, I could barely make it through the reading. It was completely filled with scientific jargon and it was just difficult to read through. My question was, even in the scientific world, how many books about science are actually read. I personally think that it is fun to read about different topics and learning more about how the world works is amazing, so I was wondering why it is that so few books on science are read. It's really a shame in my opinion.

Bryson QQC Three

Quote:

"As a student, frustrated by the limitations of conventional mathematics, he (Newton) invented an entirely new form, the calculus, but then told no one about it for twenty-seven years."

Question:

Is this the same calculus that we are learning now, or is this something that only he used?

Comment:

I was curious to know if this is the same calculus that we use today. Thinking of Newton and all of these other great mathematicians as students is something that I find rather funny since I typically only think of them as older, well-established thinkers. So to think of Newton as a student who was bored with school is sort of ironic in some ways. Then to think that he might have created one of our largest and most complex areas of study when it comes to math while he was sitting in a classroom, it's very inspiring.

Bryson QQC Two

Quote:

"One nice touch about Christy's discovery was that it happened in Flagstaff, for it was there in 1930 that Pluto had been found in the first place."

Question:

Is there something about Flagstaff that is particularly appealing to astronomers?

Comment:

I was curious about this line because I found it ironic that even though we have been looking to the stars for thousands of years, no one could tell that Pluto had a moon. The fact that Flagstaff was where we not only discovered the moon, but the planet itself, makes me wonder if there is something about Flagstaff that is good for astronomy. Does it have a higher altitude than most other places? Is the air quality cleaner, thus giving it clearer skies? I'm honestly curious now about why this happened twice in Flagstaff and what other planets etc. have been found from there.

Bryson QQC

Quote:

"The average species on Earth lasts for only about four million years, so if you wish to be around for billions of years, you must be as fickle as the atoms that made you."

Question:

How long ago did the first true human being come into existence and what will humans look like millions of years from now if we are even around?

Comment:

I had never thought about a species as having an average life-span, though it makes sense now that I think about it. Many species have gone extinct just in my lifetime, so how many millions of species have gone extinct that we might not even know about? Also, I am curious about if human beings will be around for millions of years, or will we too be gone not long from now. If we do make it, I wonder what we will look like, how we will have changed to fit our new environment and what technology we will have in the future.