Time to Work on My Game

Four Hundred Seventh Post: Time to Work on My Game (20080928)

Well if you’ve been to “Constructor’s Corner” you’ve probably seen the work on Prime numbers. And while the concept is there I just can’t get a clear solution, I still believe the work has some merit. The problem lies in the fact that a series in Primes is just about impossible to find. However my idea was to find a way to represent series by parabolas and logarithmic spirals. The theory is if you have a way to represent different types of series you might be able to determine if Prime numbers have a series by the same technique.

My email friend Curtis said that I was banging my head of the wall working with Prime numbers. And since 80's heavy metal is out of style, I agree with him and have taken a break from Prime number work. His other good advice was to work on challenging yet possible problems. And by doing so I have found I need to improve my math game.

Like geometry for instance, I have trouble with proofs because I don’t remember all the postulates, theories, and laws. I have ordered some geometry books to refresh. But just because a problems is standard geometry does not make it simple. I was reading Robert Gerver’s book “Writing Math Research Papers” and it explains that a “simple” or “routine” problem is not easy defined. That is to say it is a problem to problem assessment.

The book explains ways to improve your math game. This includes problems solving skills and communication of ideas. So math is no different than football or basketball. You need to practice, keep your skills up, and while you think you pretty well skilled, there is a whole new level of competition.