Pierre de Fermat essays

Pierre de Fermat essays There once was a man who changed the world of mathematics. He did not study math nor was it his career, in fact, he enjoyed math as merely a hobby to enjoy in his free time. This man is a French man named Pierre de Fermat (pronounced Fair-mah). Fermat is a very interesting mathematician who paved the way to understanding calculus and geometry. Fermat, considered one of the greatest mathematicians in the seventeenth century, was born in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France on August 17, 1601. His father was a wealthy leather merchant who was also the second consul of Beaumont-de-Lomagne and his mothers family was in the legal professions. Fermat was not an only child for he also had a brother and two sisters. He was very courteous and kind which had proven helpful in a dispute with Descartes, which concluded with a friendly smile. Fermat grew up in his place of birth and is believed to have gone to school at a local Franciscan Monastery and is also believed have been home schooled as well. He later attended the University of Toulouse and then later moved to Bordeaux and it was here where he began his interest in mathematics. After that, he went to the University of Orleans where he received his Bachelors Degree in law, ending his school years. He had a love for mathematics but did not let his love completely take his time a way from his practice. He had many offices in the Toulouse government. He moved from the lower chambers to the higher chambers and was eventually head of the criminal court or the highest position in the Toulouse criminal court. When he retired he devoted most of his time to his hobby, mathematics. Fermat made many contributions to not only the world of mathematics but to optics as well for he provided a law for light travel. He proved mathematically that the law for the refraction of light follows a path that takes the shortest amount of time. Fermat and Pascal worked together ...

The History of Montessori Schools

The History of Montessori Schools A Montessori school is a school that follows the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori,  an Italian doctor who devoted herself to educating the children of Romes ghettos. She became famous for her visionary methods and insight into how children learn. Her teachings spawned an educational movement which is enormously popular throughout the world. Learn more about Montessori teachings. The Montessori Philosophy A progressive movement with more than 100-years of success worldwide, the Montessori Philosophy centers around an approach that is child-directed  and is based on scientific research that comes from observation of individuals from birth to adulthood. There is a particular focus on allowing children to make their own choices in learning, with a teacher guiding the process rather than leading it. Much of the education method relies on hands-on learning, self-directed activity, and collaborative play.   Since the name Montessori is not protected by any copyright, Montessori in the name of a school does not necessarily mean that it adheres to the Montessori philosophy of education. Nor does it mean that it is accredited by the American Montessori Society or the Association Montessori Internationale. So, buyer beware is an important caution to keep in mind when looking for a Montessori school. Montessori Methodology Montessori schools theoretically cover infant education through matriculation from high school. In practice, most Montessori schools offer infant education through 8th grade. In fact, 90% of Montessori schools have very young children: ages 3 to 6. The centerpiece of the Montessori approach is allowing children to learn on their own while being guided by the teacher. Montessori teachers do not correct work and hand it back with lots of red marks. A childs work is not graded. The teacher assesses what the child has learned and then guides him into new areas of discovery. This description of a Montessori school was written by Ruth Hurvitz of The Montessori School in Wilton, CT:   The Montessori Schools culture is devoted to helping each child grow toward independence by building confidence, competence, self-esteem and respect for others. More than an approach to education, Montessori is an approach to life. The program at The Montessori School, both in philosophy and pedagogy, is based on the scientific research work of Dr. Maria Montessori and on AMI Montessori training. The School respects children as self-directed individuals and fosters their growth toward independence and social responsibility, while creating a joyful, diverse and family-oriented community. The Montessori Classroom Montessori classrooms are designed in a multi-age mix from toddlers through adolescents which allow  for both individual and social development. The classrooms are beautiful by design. They are set up in an open style, with work areas throughout the room and materials available on accessible shelving. Most lessons are given to small groups or individual children while other children are working independently. The school uses stories, Montessori materials, charts, timelines, objects of nature, treasures from the wealth of cultures around the worlds and sometimes conventional tools to teach the children. Guided by the teacher, Montessori students actively participate in planning their time and taking responsibility for their work. Committed to diversity, The Montessori School community is inclusive and depends on the tenets of respect. The school believes in sharing what we have with those in need and encouraging children to learn to live responsibly in the world. At The Montessori School, students are inspired to live both passionately and compassionately in a global community. Montessori vs Traditional Primary Education One of the differences between Dr. Montessoris approach to early childhood education and the approach found in many primary schools is the adoption of elements of the multiple intelligences theory. Harvard professor Howard Gardner developed and codified this theory in the late 20th century. Dr. Maria Montessori would seem to have developed her approach to teaching children along very similar lines. Regardless of who thought of it first, the multiple intelligences theory proposes  that children do not just learn using reading and writing intelligences. Many parents live by this theory because that is how they nurture their babies from birth. There are many parents who believe that too often, children who have been raised to use all their intelligence will go off to schools where they are severely restricted in what they learn and how they learn it, thus making a traditional public school a less than ideal option. If multiple intelligences are important to your child-rearing philosophy, then Montessori and Waldorf schools are worth a look. You also will want to read about the progressive education movement which was germinating about the same time as Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner were putting their educational theories into practice.

What Is Humes Theory Regarding Causation How Does It Show The Limits Essay

What Is Humes Theory Regarding Causation How Does It Show The Limits Of Human Understanding - Essay Example They try to knock at the levels of spirituality, but due to their egoistic approach of trying to know the necessary connection, they get stuck up. They are unable to transcend the mind level, and enter the realm of bliss, where there are no differences. It is the conflict-free zone. For every mind-level argument there is a counter argument. By such arguments the solution is impossibility. Whether the philosophers like Hume agree or not, theory regarding Causation cannot be solved by applying secular methods of proofs. Human understanding, power of discriminations has limitations. â€Å"The Philosopher David Hume is famous for making us realize that until we know the Necessary Connection / cause of things then all human knowledge is uncertain, merely a habit of thinking based upon repeated observation (induction), and which depends upon the future being like the past.† This is an example of getting stuck at the mind-level. By mind-level thinking, the functioning and limitations of the mind cannot be understood. The power that is above the mind can only understand and control the mind. For example, the Major in the army takes orders from Colonel, the higher authority. Further, look at the wavering mind and how David Hume tries to grope in the dark, hankering to see the light. â€Å"I must confess that a man is guilty of unpardonable arrogance who concludes, because an argument has escaped his own investigation, that therefore it does not really exist. I must also confess that, though all the learned, for several ages, should have employed themselves in fruitless search upon any subject, it may still, perhaps, be rash to conclude positively that the subject must, therefore, pass all human comprehension.† Good confession by Hume, but what next? â€Å"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction,† this is the third of Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of physics. Application of this law is not only confined to the space flights science, but to the entire universe. The intensity and magnitude, with which an act is performed, will necessarily have an equivalent effect in the opposite direction. It means that the intensity of your action i s directly related to the intensity of its effect being experienced by you. No act goes unnoticed or unaccounted. A human being must strive to get and experience the knowledge of both the outer physical and inner psycho-spiritual world. Hume must know that there is something beyond the sensory experiences, known as metaphysical experience or the supra-sensory experience. The lower knowledge of the empirical world is kindergarten stuff as compared to the supra-sensory experiences. Hume asserts as stated in paragraph one above, â€Å"until we know the Necessary Connection / cause of things then all human knowledge is uncertain.† What is the remedy then and is there a procedure to know the â€Å"connection and the cause†? The different approaches to everything, physical, social, religious, cultural, scientific, even all the cosmic occurrences seem to be following just â€Å"One Cause.† The one who realizes the truth about that â€Å"One Cause† does not give much relevance to the mundane occurrences of daily life to conclude that â€Å"future being like the past,† as articulated by Hume. Intellectual philosophers (like Hume) remain unaware of the Cause of grand unification of everything because they are experiencing only on the physical level, which is just the part of the Cause. The Cause cannot be known by physical instruments and experiments. One has to dive within to know it. One cannot watch every part of the macrocosm but can look inside the microcosm to know the Cause which is reflected inside. The journey from

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

English - Essay Example It was made out of two sports,  soccer  (association football) and  rugby football, each of which remains a separate sport with its own specific set of rules. The international body governing it is FIFA Federation International de Football Association and it organized the world cup which is very popular in the world. FIFA governs all levels of soccer, including professional games internationally, Olympic competitions and youth leagues. FIFA world cup is the sport’s premier event, it held after every four years pitting national teams from 32 countries against one another. The most popular and major professional league in the world is the National Football League (NFL). However, over the years, several other leagues have been formed in North America and Europe. While soccer league known as MLS (Major League Soccer) have many teams which have fans worldwide and some of the most famous teams are A.C. Milan of Italy, Ajax Amsterdam of The Netherlands, Manchester United of England, Real Madrid of Spain, Boca Juniors of Argentina, Sà £o Paulo of Brazil, and Colo Colo of Chile etc. The common thing between the two games are that it is a game played between two teams, in which players try to score a goal by hitting in opponents goal, by using any part of the body except the hands. So, players have to use their skills of using feet and heads as they kick, dribble, or pass the ball toward the goal or to another player. While the table shows compare and contrast both the

Reproductive Technologies: Does Choice Mean Freedom? :: essays research papers fc

Reproductive Technologies: Does Choice Mean Freedom? "One does not, it might be said, increase a person's freedom simply by increasing the sheer quantity of possibilities which he or she can choose from." n Richard Norman The issue of reproductive technologies in our society today raises an interesting question. Do they increase a women's freedom of choice or do they expand the power of men and science over women. Is freedom to choose what they can do with their bodies truly freedom. Freedom, as a core, is the absence of external impediment. In this sort of area can women truly be free of external impediment, also is this truly freedom of choice? "The range of physical possibilities from which a person can choose at a given moment has no direct relevance to freedom†¦Whether a person is free or not does not depend on the range of choice." (Haylek 1960, p.12f). This subject is so socially charged that a women could not possibly have true freedom of choice but a choice which is basically decided for her, whether it be by the limited choices made available to her by medical science or by the men which are directly involved with them in the decision. In order to truly understand this issue we must look at it's core, reproductive technology. This is a vast area to discuss because it ranges from artificial insemination to abortion to contraception to genetic engineering with many area in between. Artificial insemination is the introduction of sperm to an ovum artificially either inside or outside the female genital tract. Abortion is the "extermination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life." Birth control is a huge area of reproductive or contraceptive technology, in effect though all sub areas of this main area deal with the prevention of fertilization of the ovum or egg, also in some cases such as the condom it can stop the spread of disease. Genetic engineering is a new and extremely scary technology which hopes to enable the precise engineering of an unborn child. The previous examples are just some of the areas of reproductive technologies but they are sufficient to cover the basic scope of the issue. What is freedom. In the Webster's dictionary the definition is "The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint". This is the core of freedom but to truly understand freedom one must define it with much more detail. two people who have concentrated their efforts on the subject of freedom are Norman and Haylek. Norman feels that freedom is equated to the absence of social pressure yet the possession of

Against School essay

Rhetoric and Composition 1020 18 September 2012 Ask any student in public high school what they like and dislike about school. Odds are, they will say that what they enjoy most about school is the social interactions it allows them to take part in, and what they dislike about school is the classes. John Taylor Gatto, in â€Å"Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why,† discusses the reasons for such boredom in an in depth manner. Most of the time, nowadays, it is not the amount of work that they have developed a disliking for, it is the time that being in class wastes.Sitting in a class doing busy work is not something that interests people. The problem with schooling in this day in age, is that many of the students attending public schools are not being challenged and brought to their full potential. Teachers get bored of teaching and students get bored of doing work that is not going to benefit them in any way after they graduate high school. John Taylo r Gatto gives a brief summary of the history of schooling and a suggestion that, in order to better our children academically, teachers need to urge their students to take on the work that may seem more â€Å"grown up. Schooling first started taking off in the United States between 1905 and 1915. American adapted its idea of public schooling from the Prussians, much like other parts of its culture. John Taylor Gatto states that the three reasons schooling came about was â€Å"to make good people, to make good citizens, and to make each person his or her personal best. † In all reality, however, Gatto says that the worst thing taken from the Prussians was the schooling system. John Taylor Gatto brings about the question of â€Å"why is forced school necessary? The â€Å"six classes a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year. † He proves his point by saying that â€Å"two million homeschool students turned out just fine, along with many other names that Amer icans can recognize such as: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. † Gatto states that forced schooling only enforces a deadly routine. He also argues that while most people associate the term â€Å"success† with â€Å"schooling† there are many people who are just as successful as the next who have not had as much schooling as expected.He probes the questions: â€Å"why, then, do Americans confuse education with just such a system? What exactly is the purpose of our public schools? † John Taylor Gatto explains that we â€Å"so eagerly have adopted one of the very worst aspects of Prussian culture: an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens—all in order to render the populace â€Å"manageable. † While schooling is provided to enhance the intellects, it really is only designed to create mediocre ones.Parents and students should not have to go through the schooling proccess if it is not going to push them to be their absolute best. Without the proper schooling, it is harder for anyone to begin a career. Gatto explains that teachers do not guide their students to reach their full potential, but rather just give them the information to reach it. Whether they choose to strive for excellence is their choice, but teachers in this century do not push them towards their goals. Ultimately, teachers need to care more about their students futures and academic success.Next, John Taylor Gatto introduces the logistics of public schooling and the actual purpose of forced schooling in six basic functions. These functions are â€Å"the adjustive or adaptive function† which establishes reactions to authority. Teachers have the ability to teach their children to do anything, whether that is to learn or to do reckless things. Children look up to the teachers because they know that they are superior to them, therefore they react and respond to everything they say and do. It is difficult for parents to send their children to school because they are putting their trust in adults they have never met.Within forced schooling, it is likely that students and teachers disagree, and even more likely that a parent will intervene when they do not feel as if the teacher is responding adequately to the students needs. The second function is the â€Å"integrating† function. The schooling system is the definition of conformity. Children come to school everyday at the same time and preform almost identical basic functions in each classroom. They are taught when to talk, when to learn, when to eat, when to socialize, and they all listen and do what they are told and what is normal for them.Students see how other people are acting to certain situations, and then mimic those actions to blend in with the rest of the school. The  "diagnostic and directive† function deals with social roles. During their schooling, children realize what role they play and where they fit in socially. Specifically, high school is the institution where students realize the kind of people they are and what groups they will belong to, what friends they will have, and what everyone else will think of them. The â€Å"differentiating† function sorts the students according to their role and they are only taught as far as they can be as a group and no further.Gatto states here that this undermines the purpose of pushing students to their personal best. The â€Å"selective† function is exactly what it sounds like – selection, like Darwinism. If a student falls short of academic expectations, they receive poor grades and other punishments. The purpose of school is to enrich the students minds, and if they cannot do what is expected of them, they do not receive the benefits of those who do. The final function is the â€Å"propaedeutic† function. This function states that ultimately some of the students who attend school for the full twelve years will cary out the roles of authority some day.Ultimately what John Taylor Gatto argues throughout this essay, is the idea that boredom derives from the source. If a student is bored, it is because he or she is not doing anything the excite themselves, and same goes for the teachers. He suggests that in order to improve the lives of both, teachers need to introduce harder materials to the students. Not only will it keep them occupied and far from boredom, it will encourage them to reach beyond what is easy. Work Cited Gatto, John Taylor. â€Å"Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why. † Harper’s Magazine. Sep. 2003: 33-38. Print.

America Essay - 5829 Words

America (Man lies down on couch. Silence. Man begins to talk to Doc, the assumed analyst behind the desk, his chair is facing away from the man and can not be seen. His actual presence is ambiguous. A huge American Flag hangs down from ceiling. The window is left open, so the flag ripples in the wind. The day is hot. The Devil Winds are blowing off the Mojave Desert.) History is fabrication. History is betrayal. â€Å"What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors. America and Me (1) History is fabrication, coated with honey, and bubbled from all evil, in order to make life worth living. American History is no exemption. Our history books contain heroes. Men and women†¦show more content†¦I believe her. Days later I hear the same rumor from a different pair of lips. I question my girlfriend again. She once again tells me the same story. â€Å"A bolt of lightening whacks me!† It does not matter what she says. She has lied to me once; she will lie to me twice, and forever. I ended it. To this day, I have said no more than a â€Å"hi† to her. I was going to marry this girl? Now I can not stand her beastly face. (3) I am sixteen. I am in tenth grade and in history class forming a relationship with America and her past. This relationship has been going on since my birth. I think I know her. We have lived together for sixteen years. I am in college now, twenty-one years old. I have found out my America has lied to me. America has lied to me more than anyone one in my life. How can I ever trust her again? I do not. I end our relationship. To this day, I have said no more than â€Å"hi† to her. (Man speaks to the audience.) (4) For the rest of my life, America and I are in therapy. Our analyst keeps asking the same questions of America: Why do you feel the need to fabricate? Why did you feel you have to lie? Why do you grasp the good and forget the bad. America answers with continued lies. 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