Thursday, March 12, 2015

Indivisibles and Infinitesimals

For my master's class I struggled through a reading by Galileo--it all seems so pedantic!--and still have no idea why the paradox he identified is a paradox at all.  I watched a class/lecture on the topic and still don't get it, but the instructor did make a point of identifying the difference between "indivisibles" and "infinitesimals"...

Today has been so long that it seems to me to have had many additional "indivisibles" inserted into it.  The amount of work I've accomplished can only be calculated if you multiply an amount variable by an "infinitesimal" time value, and add up the infinite number of pieces.

And that is why I'm going to bed now!

1 comment:

maxutils said...

Not wanting to be a hypocrite after calling you out for not looking up monopsony…I tried to read this. You're a better mathematician than I am, but I know I couldn't even come close to understanding ...