Postby Technomancer » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:23 am
[quote="Ingemar"]0_0]
I wouldn't worry too much, you should only be getting a simple introduction, the stuff in first year should cover what Maxwell's equations are based on. This means Gauss' and Faraday's Laws and such. The mathematics needed to really appreciate Maxwell's equations are quite a bit more advanced than what you should encounter in a freshman course (e.g. vector calculus, ordinary and partial differential equations, and maybe differential forms). The course I was doing was entitled 'Numerical Methods for Electromagnetics' and mostly covered microwave stuff like waveguides, resonators and the like.
Also keep in mind that my real speciality is digital signal processing and neural networks. I took the course becuase the project that I'm currently working on requires some knowledge of physical acoustics modelling and this was the closest thing. I hadn't had to work with electromagnetic theory since my 4th year microwave course (which was a few years before), so some review was in order.
The scientific method," Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, "is nothing but the normal working of the human mind." That is to say, when the mind is working; that is to say further, when it is engaged in corrrecting its mistakes. Taking this point of view, we may conclude that science is not physics, biology, or chemistry—is not even a "subject"—but a moral imperative drawn from a larger narrative whose purpose is to give perspective, balance, and humility to learning.
Neil Postman
(The End of Education)
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge
Isaac Aasimov