Math in Books and Film

In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Musgrave Ritual, Sherlock Holmes uses geometry to solve a 250 year mystery:

"Well, at least I knew that if Brunton could do it, I could also. Besides, there was no real difficulty. I went with Musgrave to his study and whittled myself this peg, to which I tied this long string with a knot at each yard. Then I took two lengths of a fishing-rod, which came to just six feet, and I went back with my client to where the elm had been. The sun was just grazing the top of the oak. I fastened the rod on end, marked out the direction of the shadow, and measured it. It was nine feet in length.

"Of course the calculation now was a simple one. If a rod of
six feet threw a shadow of nine, a tree of sixty-four feet would
throw one of ninety-six, and the line of the one would of course be the line of the other."

Of course, this is an old idea, and how Thales measured the height of Egyptian pyramids some 500 years B.C. For more Math at the movies, check out Mathematics in Movies (includes clips) and Math In the Movies or Mathematical Fiction for books.



Sherlock Holmes image from Wikimedia

Exercise in Rhetoric: Comparing Alexander and Caesar

In ancient times, a common rhetorical exercise was to have students compare famous individuals. This past week our son wrote an essay comparing Alexander the Great and Caesar, and we discovered an example from the past. It is a fascinating read, and Appian of Alexandria , makes these men's lives come vividly to life.

Excerpt:

"They were both supremely ambitious, warlike, rapid in executing their decisions, careless of danger, unsparing of their bodies, and believers not so much in strategy as in daring and good luck. One of them made a long journey across the desert in the hot season [1] to the shrine of Ammon, and when the sea was pushed back crossed the Pamphylian gulf by divine power, for heaven held back the deep for him until he passed, and it rained for him while he was on the march. In India he ventured on an unsailed sea. He also led the way up a scaling-ladder, leapt unaccompanied on to the enemy wall, and suffered thirteen wounds. He was never defeated and brought all his campaigns to an end after one or at most two pitched battles...

In Caesar's case, the Adriatic yielded by becoming calm and navigable in the middle of winter. He also crossed the western ocean in an unprecedented attempt to attack the Britons, and ordered his captains to wreck their ships by running them ashore on the British cliffs. He forced his way alone in a small boat at night against another stormy sea, when he ordered the captain to spread the sails and take courage not from the waves but from Caesar's good fortune. On many occasions he was the only man to spring forward from a terrified mass of others and attack the enemy..."


A rhetorical exercise: Alexander and Caesar



Wikipedia: Caesar

End of the Year Testing - Homeschool

This is a busy time, but wanted to post our links for end-of-the-year testing. Some states require this for homeschoolers and we have always found the information helpful for identifying students' (and curricular) strengths and weaknesses.

Currently we are using Piedmont Educational Services for the ITBS.

In previous years we used Family Learning Organization for the California Achievement Test.

Giving these tests to your kids at the end of the year can give them some practice at standardized tests and help you plan for what your student needs for the coming year.

Here's a link with more Testing Services for Homeschoolers.

p.s. We've recently received word that our daughter has been accepted into a clinical trial. We'll post when we can, but may be a little spotty until we get into a more regular routine in mid June. We'd appreciate your prayers for this next step in her treatment.