Why I Decided to Revisit Algebra

There are lots of reasons, but the ones that gave me the biggest kick in the pants were the YouTube channel on Nintendo Wii and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Thanks to the YouTube channel I could watch Dr. Tyson lecture on things from trivial to deep from the comfort of my couch. His love of the universe and science education is infectious. After a month of Tyson lectures I wanted to read some books on basic physics. I went to the public library, opened a book on basic physics, and prepared to expand my knowledge of the universe. There was only one teeny tiny infinitesimal problem. A minor detail, really

Math is an integral part of physics.

I do not have a good relationship with math.

To understand physics, the world, and the best memes on Facebook's I f*cking love science would mean going alllllll the way back to Algebra I. Did I really need to know the answers to the universe so badly? Was I willing to go back to x, y, polynomials, graph paper, the evil f(x), and some of the most miserable academic memories of my life? Was I this much of a nerd?

The answer to every question was yes. Dr. Tyson's scientific fever still has hold on me. He transmits it via StarTalk. One day I'll either thank him for starting this journey or send him some non-Pluto hate mail.

I left the library with two algebra books: The Everything Guide to Algebra (Christopher Monahan, published by Adams Media) and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra, First Edition (W. Michael Kelley, published by Alpha Books). So far Idiot's Guide is the hands down winner. Everything reads like stereo instructions. Monahan covers in one chapter what Kelley splits into three. However Idiot's Guide is light on practice problems despite its "A Plethora of Practice" chapter. Kelley's target audience is probably middle and high school students with an algebra textbook at hand rather than thirtysomething nerds looking to increase their geek cred. Right now I'm keeping Everything as a back up for practice problems.

After a week with these books I feel hopeful. Over the next couple of days I'll post about getting my feet wet, my stupid math mistakes, and how some of those rules my eighth grade math teacher harped on turned out not to be so important after all.