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In the train to NYC this afternoon, I had a very enriching conversation with this very intellectual statistician with a doctorate in statistics. I will detail this conversation in this blog, The statistician was enlightening me on mathematics, one of his fields of expertise that I am most interested in. The left side of my brain is all about mathematics and logic (which can also be classified as a branch of mathematics). In school, English and mathematics were always my two favorite and best subjects. In middle and high school, it became English, mathematics, and Spanish. The highest level of mathematics that I have studied was Advanced Placement Calculus BC in high school. In college, I did not take any courses in calculus since my ego prevented me from repeating calculus, which many had to in college. Now I wish that I had studied till the highest level of calculus. I still hope to study the highest level of calculus and mathematics someday in my free time.
Michael, my train acquaintance, told me that there is all kinds of calculus. I had known before about Calculus III: Multivariable Calculus and Calculus IV: Differential Calculus. Michael told me that there is also, for example, Vector Calculus. He told me that for the master's degree in Mathematics, the fields are divided into Advanced Analysis (aka Calculus), Linear Algebra, and Topology. He said that in the PhD, students go into one of those three fields in depth.
I would love to learn Vector Calculus someday, along with Multivariable Calculus, Differential Calculus, and all the other forms of calculus. When I have free time, now that I am free of my ego, I am going to start from scratch in calculus and work upwards to the highest level of calculus. Michael recommended a book on advanced mathematics by Rubin. Now all I need to do is dig up some college calculus textbooks and start from scratch.
I love learning about all different subjects and majors, even if I do not major in them. Mathematics is on the list of the majors that I would have taken on if I did not take up English Literature and Theatre. I learned that people either major in pure or applied mathematics. I think that I am all for pure mathematics since I am not about practicality and more of a purist. I mentioned to Michael that I am interested in learning about mathematics applied to liberal arts, rather than science. Michael said that the liberal arts applicants usually study and apply logic and sometimes other mathematics and become lawyers. He recommended law school for someone of my background.
I also really love the topic of logic. I took logic in college to fulfill the math requirement. The logic course actually ended up being tougher than I thought it would be. I hope to one day study the relations between logic, philosophy, and mathematics.
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