Zero

Is Zero a number?
Not many people realize that zero is not a trivial concept. It took a long time for people to accept it as a number, because it was hard to imagine. What are zero oranges? zero naira? Can you picture it? .....to be continued.

Man vs. Machine

 I just checked for computer vision and I got to know that it is still an active area of research. It is still one of those areas where man exceeds machine in performance. It makes me think that I have been underestimating how powerful the human brain is. We understand speech, can recognize images, think creatively and control our muscles.These are really complex processes and still our brains perform quite adequately.

What am I doing Now?

I have got so much I want to do. I have signed up for online courses, I have got school work and I have personal goals I want to accomplish.
I signed up for Introduction to Mathematical Thinking on cousera and for electronics circuits on edx. So far i have only being able to keep up with Introduction to Mahematical Thinking. I am way behind in Electronics Circuits.
On my personal goals, I need to learn java and C++. I need to become familiar with Matlab. I plan to read Electronic Circuits for the Evil Genius and Electronics for Dummies.
Once I am through with this phase, I will begin to study Electronics, Communications, Power, Control and other specialized aspects of electrical engineering. It is going to be a lot of work.

Online Education

I decided to try out free online education on www.cousera.org and www.edx.org . It has been a challenge getting a a reliable internet connection (got one now, Glo toh Bad gan!), the cost of internet and my school work.
I registered for Introduction to Mathematical Thinking, Circuits and Electronics and Electricity and Magnetism. So far, I am lost in Electricity and Magnetism, far behind. I have been able to keep pace with Introduction to Mathematical Thinking and I am just starting Circuits and Electronics.
I guess we will see how it goes. I hope it is not just a waste of time or that I have to quit at some point.

Sir Francis bacon Quote

Sir Francis Bacon once said that: "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." In other words, if you are
absolutely sure that you are right whatever the evidence, you will end up in trouble; but if
you are always willing to change your mind when the facts change you will emerge with a
robust view of how the world works.

Einstein Quote

Einstein:

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind,
and are not, however it may seem, uniquely
determined by the external world. In our endeavour to
understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to
understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the
face and the moving hands, even hears it ticking, but he has
no way of opening the case.
If he is ingenious he may form some picture of the mechanism
which could be responsible for all the things he observes,
but he may never be quite sure
his picture is the only one which could explain his
observations. He will never be able to compare his picture
with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the
possibility of the meaning of such a comparison."

Maths Discovery

          When I was in secondary school, I began to wonder - 'Why isnt there any formula for calculating the area of all the polygons,I had seen formulas for a square, for a rectangle but I hadn't seen any for a nonagon or heptagon'. So I decided to derive formulas for them.
         After a little work. I was able to get a formula for a regular hexagon and a nonagon. I went to show my math teacher my achievement. He told me to try to get a formula that would work for all regular polygons. I got to work and hit upon a solution. I was excited! I had thought of a problem and actually solved it.
        I noticed that as the number of sides got larger the polygon becomes more and more like a circle. And then it struck! A circle is no more than a polygon with an infinte number of sides.It was also my first encounter with the infinite. And there I was thinking of possibities, What if none had done this before? Will I get a medal or some sort of award? I was beginning to dream big. I checked the library and there was 'my'formula in the encylopaedia britannica. Someone had beat me to it. I was gutted.In the  end, It didnt really matter, I had experienced the joy of being a mathematician. I had encountered a problem and solved it. That was all that really mattered.