Re: [MATHEDCC] quadratic

FilKambel (FilKambel@AOL.COM)
Sat, 17 Jan 1998 14:54:14 EST

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i'm going to throw in on this one with my usual reminder to my class that the
slang "squared" and the label "quadratic" have something in common -- they
refer to functions which can (and probably originally, did) calculate areas --
two-dimensional regions we measure in "square units." i suspect it goes back
to those crafty Egyptians / Babylonians / etc., who had agriculture on the
brain.

more problematic is the old question about why we measure circular regions
with square units...

:phil campbell
college of the lower case, ca
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Next message: Geoff Hagopian: "Re: [MATHEDCC] question"
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Maybe in reply to: Lawrence Gilligan: "[MATHEDCC] quadratic"