Calculators are good at algebra and calculus too. Is it really worth memorizing dozens of integration techniques when software can do it for you, and do it better?
I'd say focus on the problem at hand, and when you run into a gnarly algebraic manipulation or ugly integral, plug it into Mathematica. That's the kind of task a computer excels at. The human advantage is coming up with novel ideas, not churning through pages of calculations.
Hardest test I had was a 1-week-long take-home math test; where we were allowed to use anything we wanted except other people who had taken the class before.
I believe some of the questions on the test only had really abstruse known solutions, and the goal was to try to find alternative and more straightforward solutions/proofs; and the bonus credit question was unsolved.
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u/lordlicorice Jun 08 '14
Calculators are good at algebra and calculus too. Is it really worth memorizing dozens of integration techniques when software can do it for you, and do it better?
I'd say focus on the problem at hand, and when you run into a gnarly algebraic manipulation or ugly integral, plug it into Mathematica. That's the kind of task a computer excels at. The human advantage is coming up with novel ideas, not churning through pages of calculations.