"The control of large numbers is possible, and like unto that of small numbers, if we subdivide them." -- (Sun Tze Ping Fa, 5th - 6th century)

Math History Tidbit:

Evariste Galois (France, 1811-1832): His short and troubled life makes him sound like a fictional character, but he contributed much to algebra and is considered the founder of a branch of mathematics that we now call group theory. Among other things, Galois was the first to realize and demonstrate that general polynomials with degree higher than four cannot be solved by algebraic means. He was killed in a duel at age 20. Much of his life's work was scribbled onto a 31 page document the night before he died.


Herkimer's Corner

What did Herkimer say when he was about to be hanged for rustling cattle and no rope could be found?

Answer: "No noose is good noose."

Things Herky would like to know:

If a glassblower accidentally inhaled, would he get a pane in his stomach?

If a monster is seen in a drip-dry suit, can you call him a wash-and-were wolf?


Reading: Review Chapter 7, as necessary.

Exercises: Test 7A (handout in class).

There will be an in-class test after the discussion of Test 7A.

Items for reflection:

You are working on material related to conceptsin Chapter 7.

A reminder that the formulas for the mean andvariance of a random variable are consistent the previous formulasrelating to these concepts. Variance is expressed in terms of squareunits, while standard deviation units are the same as thoseassociated with the variable in question.

Variances do have some nice properties (page 400)that do not apply to the standard deviation. These properties will beimportant when statistical concepts are developed in laterchapters.






Supplemental books:

Back to the top of this page