Real Education Reform

When are we going to adjust our educational system to produce thinking adults rather than trying to stuff students heads with things they'll never use. I am currently tutoring a young lady in calculus three, which seems to be more semi advanced linear algebra than calculus.
She has to learn how to find equations for lines and curves, how to find norms for five dimensional surfaces and tangent planes, equations for intersecting planes, and much more, ...and this is just 3 weeks into the course. I spent 40 years as an engineer and applied physicist and never needed to find equations of plane intersections or tangents to level surfaces.

I have no objection to asking students to gain understanding of complex topics, but instead of focusing on underlying concepts the course(s) devolve into learning procedures and tricks ( like looking for all the ways one can arrange trig functions to come up with sin square plus cos square terms) to get answers to examples that will never be encountered outside the course.

Learning fewer procedures and doing fewer examples, but gaining insight into the true meaning of gradients and why level surfaces are important would be so much more rewarding and stimulating of intellectual growth.

Please Tell Them to be Checked Regularly

I don't often post about very personal things but in this case I think it is important that this information be disseminated. Three of my sisters had breast cancer, first diagnosed between fifteen and twenty years ago. One sister has been cancer free for many years. Neither of the other two was monitored frequently enough and one developed widely metastasized cancer from which she died this past month and the other is being treated for ovarian cancer, which was discovered fortuitously. If you know someone who has had breast cancer urge them to be monitored frequently. Also urge them to be tested for the brca genes, as positive results may guide their oncologists to suggest additional treatment options.

Statistics Help

In particle physics, sought after events that confirm many aspects of the theory of elementary particles can be relatively rare.  Determining if signals recorded in detectors are from these events, rather than minor blips in the plethora of background events,  requires the application of sophisticated statistical analysis.  If anyone out there can recommend a good primer in statistical methods that covers Monte Carlo methods, Markov chains, and Bayesian statistics, please let me know.

Small project; refinishing block front dresser.

Project news... not actual woodworking this time, just refinishing. Several weeks ago I picked up a piece of Kindel vintage furniture, from somewhere between the late early and late 40's I guess. It looked forlorn and beat up standing outside a gas station/antique store when I cycled by it, but I recognized the quality and the name Kindel, Grand rapids confirmed my estimate. So I paid the $75 asking price and drove down later to pick it up. Got in the basement and went to work on it. 

Removed blotchy dark coating  and factory lacquer finish. Polished the brasses and applied several coats of new lacquer to the wood. The piece had been dusted or polished with silicon bearing cleaner, waxes, or polishes. This prevents the new finish from adhering so I had to use a special additive in the new lacquer. It helped but the results are still not as good as they would have been otherwise. So DO NOT USE anything on your furniture or other surface that eventually may be refinished unless IT SAYS SILICON FREE. [ i.e it's guilty until proven innocent]

The dresser  went from before to after pretty well, I think. Judge for yourself. It now sits in the alcove of our bedroom.