Musings #1
The solution to a mystery; depaywalling over 250 posts; paragraphs I have loved
Greetings!
I’ve been considering for some time a mid-week or end-of-week post in which I muse on assorted stuff — a bit like Start the Week but not at the start of the week. Today seemed as good a time as any.
A mystery algorithm
A few weeks ago I wrote an ‘experiment in style’ that used a mystery constraint, and invited people to suggest what the mystery algorithm was. Before the great reveal, you can go and read it now if you like: I’ve removed the paywall.
Experiments in style: mystery algorithm
Incidentally, the experiments in style project is one in which I take a very simple story — more of an anecdote really — and rewrite it in different styles. You can see the full index here:
I’ve reset the autopaywall to enable my posts — including the ‘experiments’ — to be read free of charge of charge for up to two years after publication, which means that many of of the ‘experiments’ are now open to everyone (at least for now).
Anyway, back to the mystery algorithm. It was the Fibonacci Sequence. Well done to
and for cracking it. The best explanation I’ve come across is this one by Britannica. It’s quite straightforward until it (needlessly, in my opinion) throws in a complicated-looking mathematical formula:Fibonacci sequence, the sequence of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …, each of which, after the second, is the sum of the two previous numbers…
You can see that at work in the first few sentences, in which the number of words increases in accordance with the Fibonacci sequence:
Ouch! Oof! That hurt! That was silly. Where’s my sense of direction? Fancy bumping into a wall in my house. I should have turned the light on instead of groping in the dark. I shouldn’t have had a cup of tea so late, then I would not have needed the bathroom during the night.
It was fun doing that, but I’m pleased the story is only a very short one or I’d have ended up with sentences hundred and even thousands of words long.
Incidentally, I usually reserve explanations for the Experiments in Style Extra section, which is for paid subscribers.
Paragraphs I’ve enjoyed writing
Most of my reviews are very positive, and I frequently conclude by recommending the book in question despite my criticisms. However, I do think it’s important to be honest about a book’s or an exhibition’s downsides. I also like to open a review, where possible, with a personal, perhaps humorous, observation.
The following paragraphs are all exerpts from book reviews I’ve written for education magazines in Britain. The DfE is the Department for Education. My views on this organisation and the latter-day Ozymandiases who lead it for a (usually brief) period of time are probably best left unsaid, but perhaps may be gleaned from my occasional remarks about them.
Technicians exhibition
Should you ever find yourself in the unlikely circumstance of having to choose between me administering medication or waiting for a paramedic, my advice would be to wait. One of the things I discovered about myself on my recent visit to the Science Museum is that my fine motor skills leave much to be desired. Trying out the role of lab technician for size, I either over-filled the solution or under-filled it. As Dirty Harry was wont to say, a man’s got to know his limitations.
The Complete Learner’s Toolkit
As far as I am aware, every cross-curricular initiative, at least in secondary education, has failed: ICT, maths, English, economic literacy… they all wind up with non-specialist teachers attempting to teach those subjects or skills. It is, at the risk of understatement, a big ask. But then, in many ways, so is this book.
The school fundraising handbook
Overall then, this a fantastic resource – a superb repository of suggestions, resources and practical tips – that could have been made much stronger with some astute editing, and more thought given to the user’s navigation.
The turning point for the teaching profession
When the term “teaching profession” arises, my reaction is more often than not to borrow from Gandhi and opine that such a thing would be a good idea. This is not to disparage teachers. Given that the government has laid down what must be taught, periodically pontificates on the ‘best’ teaching methods, goes so far as to indicate a preference for particular resources and has appointed an external organisation to oversee quality control, can teaching be truly thought of as a profession?
Teaching machines
Here is a very strange paradox. On the one hand, everyone agrees that a key ingredient for success in life is having great teachers. On the other, there’s a relentless narrative that education is somehow broken and that fixing it entails replacing teachers or transforming some or all of what they do.
Breaking the news exhibition
But while breadth is the exhibition’s main strength, the trade-off of sacrificing depth and nuance is its major weakness. For example, a section presents a photo of Greta Thunberg accompanied by the text “1970s. Climate change: early reports claim fossil fuels are polluting the planet but sceptics ask ‘how bad is it?’”. Some sceptics are still asking that, but why no mention of those who have been raising the issue for decades?
The power of professional learning networks
It is probably not an exaggeration to say that the DfE has lost the trust of teachers. And sadly, in spite of all the proof evident from the Covid response that teachers want to develop their professional skills and do the best by their pupils, it’s unclear whether ministers ever trusted them.
Science fiction exhibition
It is perhaps a trite observation, but all our achievements were born in someone’s imagination. Indeed, science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke once suggested that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The internet, the metaverse, robots, prosthetics and even medical apps all found their first iterations in science fiction.
Sentence models for creative writing
Analysing writing to find out how it produces the effect it does is usually hard work, not least because it can be so amorphous. What you regard as a marvellous oxymoron might seem to me to be an unfortunate juxtaposition.
Blueprints
Should you be wondering about my credentials for reviewing a book about mathematics, let me explain. I “graduated” from secondary school knowing how to use logarithm tables and the definition of an Isosceles triangle. I’ve not used log tables since, and I wouldn’t know what do with an Isosceles triangle even if I tripped over one. In other words, if someone like me finds a book like this enjoyable and informative, there’s hope for everyone.
This is one of the paragraphs I’ve drafted for consideration for my forthcoming review of this book. There are two more here:
Three possible beginnings of a book review
I hope you enhoyed reading them, and if you have any views about them I’d love to hear them.
Thanks for reading!
Mainly because I wrote them 😂
Wow Terry, I loved all of these insights and commentaries. Fantastic post!
Like the format, Terry. Always down for some musings.
"One of the things I discovered about myself on my recent visit to the Science Museum is that my fine motor skills leave much to be desired. Trying out the role of lab technician for size, I either over-filled the solution or under-filled it." -- this is great that they offer up such things to try in the Science Museum.