Mathematics in different parts of the world
by Jennifer Jo, on May 31st, 2012
During last TOK lesson we were talking about mathematics in different part of the universe, and whether the mathematics of ours will be still applicable to those parts as well. I believe that in general the basic concept of math would be the same, but the values and quantities involved might be different. For example, if we take gravity (9.8ms^2) on Earth, it applies to objects on the Earth but changes even from the moon (1.6ms^2). The concept of finding the gravity is the same, which is calculating acceleration by height at which the object is dropped and time taken for it to reach the ground. But if we apply the values of gravity to calculate g.p.e or other related quantities, it would vary significantly. Also, the concept of math itself might be different. We’ve talked about a spherical plane in which the triangle’s angles add up to 270 degrees. If this kind of world does exist, then the definition of perpendicular, parallel and the properties of various shapes would be completely different from our plane geometry. If we think about it in terms of dimensions (animation flatland really helped my understanding), the concept of ‘area’ doesn’t exist in 1D world, and the concept of ‘height’ doesn’t exist in 2D world. This is the reason why we find it hard to understand the concept of 4D world with the addition of ‘time’.
Mathematics is really useful to our society and seems like an irrefutable area of knowledge on Earth. However when we enter another world with totally different concept mathematics will be redefined by their environment and concepts.
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Important Dates Y12 Orals: May 22, May 31, June 5, June 7.
June 11: Y12 TOK Day
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"The arts, ideas, natural beauty, and good conversation provide lasting pleasure."
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"The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it."
—Werner Vogels
Your Daily Chinese Character
Comments . . . . . . are open only to students of the class, but if you are a non-student and would like to comment you can email Mr. MacKnight at ericmacknight AT mac DOT com.
Is TOK a Philosophy Course? YES, in the sense that the name of the course itself is in any dictionary effectively synonymous with "epistemology."
NO, in the sense that IB-specific ToK has many philosophical elements, but is not just philosophy. ToK is at root an interdiscipinary course that allows students to become aware of how the six subject-groups on the corners on the Diploma hexagon overlap and integrate. The interdisciplinary aspect is the crucial thing . . . .
—Bruce Bartlett
Le Collège français
Toronto, Canada
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"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
—Steven Wright
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Webs & Chains Natura in reticulum sua genera connexit,
non in catenam: homines non possunt nisi
catenam sequi, cum non plura simul
possint sermone exponere.
Nature knits up her kinds in a network, not
in a chain; but men can follow only by
chains because their language can’t handle
several things at once.
—Albrecht von Haller (tr. Howard Nemerov)
[Epigraph to Nemerov's poem, "The Dependencies"]
About This Blog Until June 2011, this TOK blog was managed solely by Eric MacKnight. Beginning in the fall of 2011, its name changed to "DCSZ TOK Class Blog", and since then it has been used by all TOK students at Dulwich College Suzhou. The lead teacher is Julie Connah, assisted by Alan Connah and Eric MacKnight. Content posted before August 2011 was written by Eric MacKnight and his students at Suzhou Singapore International School. In August 2012 John Fitzgerald replaced Alan Connah in the DCSZ TOK team.
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