A Ton of Crap
Page 25
HUMOR
Douglas Adams Douglas Adams was the creator of the immensely popular Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Adams, who was discovered by Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame, started his career writing for BBC radio programs. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy originally began as a radio show on the BBC. The show would eventually turn into a book, and Adams wrote five books in the series. Since its conception, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been immensely popular, and has been turned into a television series, a video game, a major motion picture, and a comic book series.
TRIGONOMETRY
Reciprocal Identities Identities are true no matter what value the variable is. For example, the problem (x + 3) (x – 3) = x2 – 9 is always true. That makes it an identity. In trigonometry, there are several reciprocal identities one has to know.
The reciprocal identities are:
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Brownian Motion In 1905, Einstein’s third paper concentrated on the random movement of small particles in liquids and gases. Brownian motion gets its name from Robert Brown, who in 1827, reported on the motion of pollen particles in water. Brown, however, was never able to figure out why the motion happened. Einstein figured out that the motion was due to water molecules hitting the pollen. Though the pollen grains were visible, the water molecules weren’t, and so it appeared that these particles were jiggling. Einstein was also able to show the speed the water molecules were moving in and how many molecules hit a single grain of pollen, as well as what properties of atoms could be tested.
CANTONESE
Cantonese Today A total of 71 million people speak Cantonese, and it is spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Macau, Hainan, and Guangxi. Through Western colonialism, migration, and trade, the majority of Chinese who have traveled abroad have been speakers of Cantonese. Today, Cantonese-speaking communities appear more in other countries than in most of China. The United States and Canada have the most
Cantonese-speaking communities outside of Hong Kong and mainland China, and in San Francisco, there are a total of 180,000 Cantonese speakers.
LESSON 23F
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
The Aftermath Lenin’s peace policy with Germany was widely unpopular and ended in Russia ceding large territories to the Germans. Following the October Revolution, a civil war broke out between the Whites (the anti-Bolsheviks) and the Reds (the Communists). The Reds eventually won after four years, and in 1922, the Soviet Union was established. When Lenin died in 1923, Joseph Stalin came to power.
HUMOR
David Sedaris David Sedaris (whose sister is comedian Amy Sedaris) is one of the most prolific humorists writing today. His books usually consist of short essays full of biting, absurdist, and slightly neurotic commentary, based on his life. One of his most famous pieces, “Santaland Diaries,” was a memoir of his seasonal job working as an elf for Macy’s during the holiday season. He has published many books of his essays, one of his most well known being Me Talk Pretty One Day.
TRIGONOMETRY
Inverse Trigonometric Functions When given the value of a function and asked to find the value of the angle, this is referred to as an inverse trigonometric function. The terms used for inverse functions are arcsin, arccos, arctan, arccsc, arcsec, and arccot. If f(x) = sin x and g(x) = arcsin x, then the formula for finding the inverse trigonometric functions is f(g(x)) = x or g(f(x)) = x. So arcsin x = y, which leads us to the formula x = sin y.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
His Brain Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of seventy-six. His body was cremated, but his brain was saved for research. Until 1999, it was decided that Einstein’s brain was really no different than any other person’s brain. In 1999 however, it was discovered that Einstein’s brain lacked a certain wrinkle, called the parietal operculum. To compensate for this lacking wrinkle, other parts of his brain, such as the inferior parietal lobes, had to compensate. This part of the brain plays a role in mathematical thinking and visual imagery.
CANTONESE
Useful Cantonese Phrases Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling to Hong Kong. Note that these are written in Yale Romanization, a phonetic English alphabet:
Hello. Néih hóu.
Pleased to meet you. Hóu hòisàm yihngsīk néih.
Good morning. Jóusàhn.
Good day. Ńgh ōn.
Good evening. Máahn ōn.
Excuse me. m̀hgòi.
How much is this? Nīgo géidō chín a?
Thank you. Dòjeh.
Where’s the toilet? Chisó hái bīndouh a?
Do you speak English? Neih sīkm̀hsīk góng yìngmán a?
Can you translate it for me? Néih hóm̀hhóyíh bòng ngóh fáanyihk a?
Goodbye. Joigin.
LESSON 23 QUIZ
Lenin’s successful coup d’état, in which he and the Bolshevicks overthrew the Provisional Government, describes which of the following events?
The February Revolution
The October Revolution
The events of International Women’s Day Festival
The Summer of 1917
Which of the following happened after Lenin came to power?
A peace policy with Germany that was widely unpopular
Russia ceding large territories to the Germans
A civil war between the Whites and the Reds
All of the above
Which of the following was written by Mark Twain?
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Confederacy of Dunces
Me Talk Pretty One Day
A and C
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy was written by:
P. G. Wodehouse
Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
David Sedaris
What is 60° in radians?
π/3
π/4
π/2
π
There is an oblique triangle ABC with side a = 9 inches, side b = 11 inches, and the angle of C is 60°. What is the value of c?
103
10609
Ö103
Ö10609
What can we derive from
Einstein’s special theory of
relativity (E = mc2)?
Mass is not energy.
Mass is another form of energy.
Light is another form of energy.
The speed of light is not as fast as we thought.
Einstein’s theory of relativity can be broken up into what two parts?
Special theory of relativity and Brownian motion
General theory of relativity and Brownian motion
Special theory of relativity and parietal operculum
Special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity
Which of the following is true?
Though Cantonese is written in the standard language, it also has additional characters.
There are words in Cantonese that do not have any meaning in Mandarin.
Cantonese-speaking communities appear more in other countries than in China.
All of the above.
Which of the following is true?
Cantonese has four tones and Mandarin has up to nine.
Cantonese has up to nine tones and Mandarin only has four.
Cantonese and Mandarin have the same number of tones.
Cantonese has four tones and Mandarin has five.
ANSWER KEY: b, d, a, c, a, c, b, d, d, b
Lesson 24
HISTORY: World War I
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, The First Battle at the Marne, The Battle of Tannenburg, The Battle of Cambrai, The United States Enters the War, The Treaty of Versailles
LANGUAGE ARTS: Mystery
Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, The Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Louise Penny
MATH: Logic
What Is Logic?, Shorthand Sentences, Connectives, Use of
Parentheses, The Rules of Logic, Modus Ponens, Modus Tollens, and Hypothetical Syllogism
SCIENCE: The Copenhagen Interpretation
Quantum Suicide, The Many-Worlds Theory, What Is the Copenhagen Interpretation?, Wave Function,
The Nature of Collapse, Criticism
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Vietnamese
The Origins, Role of the Chinese, Qu´ôc Ngữ, Dialects, Speech Patterns, Useful Vietnamese Phrases
LESSON 24A
WORLD WAR I
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated by a member of the Serbian terrorist group known as the Black Hand. This event would lead to the beginning of the Great War. Following the murder, the government of
Austria-Hungary had to impose their authority on Serbia, and they called on Germany for support. On July 23, an ultimatum was delivered to Serbia to wipe out terrorist groups and anti-Austrian sentiment or encounter military action. Serbia called on Russia for support, and on July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. On August 1, Russian forces began mobilizing in support of Serbia, and Germany declared war on Russia. Russia’s allies Great Britain and France then joined in.
MYSTERY
Edgar Allan Poe Perhaps more widely known for his dark poetry such as “The Raven,” or his horror stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe is actually considered the father of the mystery genre. His story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1841, is considered the very first mystery story. It focuses on detective
C. Auguste Dupin, as he tries to solve the murders of two women by gathering and analyzing clues. Many elements of modern mysteries can be found in such works of Edgar Allan Poe as “The Purloined Letter” and “The Gold Bug.”
LOGIC
What Is Logic? Logic is the study of correct reasoning, or inference. The origins of logic can be traced back to Aristotle, who viewed logic as a tool to be used, rather than an actual philosophy. This is still the view mathematicians and philosophers take. In order to establish something, such as a philosophy, as true, one needs logic to demonstrate a proof and to have it accepted. And that is exactly what logic is used for.
THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION
Quantum Suicide Similar to how the cat from Schrödinger’s experiment was both dead and alive, the quantum suicide theory poses this hypothesis: a man sits with a gun to his head. The gun measures the spin of a particle and every time the man pulls the trigger, the particle’s spin, or quark, is measured. Based on this measurement, the gun will go off or won’t go off. If the quark spins clockwise, the gun will go off, and if it is spinning counterclockwise, there will only be a click, but no firing of the gun. As the man pulls the trigger, he hears click after click, meaning the quark is spinning counterclockwise, and the gun will never go off. However, if you start from the beginning and the quark is clockwise, the man will die. Because we can have both situations, the man is both dead and alive. The universe is split in two every time he pulls the trigger.
VIETNAMESE
The Origins Vietnamese is an Austro-Asiatic language, belonging to the Mon-Khmer branch. The political history of Vietnam greatly impacted the formation of the language. Prior to the second century b.c., two communities along the Red River came together to become the Viet-Muong. In the second century b.c., the Chinese came to power, importing their language and grammar rules (even today, 60 percent of the language has Chinese roots). From 1884 to 1946, Vietnam was colonized by the French, which also influenced the language.
LESSON 24B
WORLD WAR I
The First Battle at the Marne The First Battle at the Marne was the first significant battle fought that proved that the war would not be short and introduced the fighting style most characteristic of World War I: trench warfare. By the end of August 1914, three of Germany’s armies were moving toward Paris to take control of the city and conquer France. By September 3, 500,000 French civilians had left the city. The commander-in-chief of the French forces planned an attack on the German First Army, and they attacked on September 6. By splitting the German armies, the French and the British were able to advance, and German forces couldn’t break through. On September 9, the Germans retreated, and by September 10, the battle was over.
MYSTERY
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is one of the names that immediately comes to mind when thinking about mystery fiction. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Holmes’s first case was featured in the book A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887, and Doyle’s most known book was The Hound of the Baskervilles of 1902. When creating the character, Doyle actually used Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin as an influence for Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes was featured in four novels and countless stories, and is still adapted for film and television to this day.
LOGIC
Shorthand Sentences An example of logic might be:
Assuming: The cat is orange.
And assuming: The cat is a female.
I conclude: The cat is orange and the cat is a female.
In logic, shorthand sentences are essential. Instead of writing out full-length sentences all the time, a letter is chosen to represent that sentence. So the sentence “The cat is orange” would be represented by the letter A, and the sentence “The cat is a female” would be represented by the letter B.
THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION
The Many-Worlds Theory First proposed in 1957, the many-worlds theory was not taken seriously until the quantum suicide theory. The many-worlds theory states that for every outcome that is possible, the world splits into copies and each of the actions are taken. The person is not aware of the other version of the universe. So, with the case of quantum suicide, if the man dies, his self in the other universe lives on, ready to test the gun once again. Every time he dies, the universe splits once more. The Copenhagen interpretation contradicts the many-worlds theory.
VIETNAMESE
Role of the Chinese During the time of the Viet-Muong, there were two dialects: that of the Lowlanders and that of the Highlanders. When the Chinese came to power over the lowland Viets, Chinese characters, language, and administration were introduced. The Chinese ruled over the land for 1,000 years, and though Chinese was officially the written language, the development of the spoken language continued, with the Lowlander dialect becoming the spoken language. In the tenth century, the Highlander language was no longer a dialect, but its own language: Muong. Though the Vietnamese spoke their own language, they used Chinese characters when writing, and this was known as chữ nôm.
LESSON 24C
WORLD WAR I
The Battle of Tannenburg The Battle of Tannenburg was fought from August 26 to August 31, 1914. It is considered Germany’s greatest victory, and Russia’s worst defeat. Two Russian armies, one led by General P. K. Rennenkampf, the other by A. V. Samsonov, planned on attacking East Prussia. Contact between the two armies was lost, and the Germans took advantage of Samsonov’s isolated army. Within the next few days, half of his army was lost, and on August 29, Samsonov shot himself. The Germans took 92,000 Russian prisoners.
MYSTERY
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction The period from 1920 to 1939 is referred to as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. During this time, such prolific mystery writers as Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Freeman Wills Crofts produced their most notable work. While Poe and Doyle brought the mystery genre to life, the writers of this time polished the genre. These books were meant to engage the reader and make the reader try to work along with the detectives. For this reason, certain rules were set in place. These rules included that the criminal should be mentioned early in the book, detectives were not allowed to be helped by intuition or accident, no supernatural solutions were allowed, and no clues could be concealed from the reader. By World War II, the genre began to decline in popularity.
LOGIC
Connectives Connectives are used to connect sentence
s represented by A and B. Connectives are the “and, or, if . . . then, not, if and only if.” Connectives have their own symbols. They are:
and ^
or v
if . . . then −>
not ~
if and only if <−>
So, now the sentences about the cat look like this:
The cat is orange and the cat is a female. (A ^ B)
The cat is orange or the cat is a female. (A v B)
If the cat is orange, then the cat is a female. (A −> B)
The cat is not orange. (~A)
The cat is orange if and only if the cat is female. (A <−> B)
THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION
What Is the Copenhagen Interpretation? Niels Bohr first posed the Copenhagen interpretation in 1920. The Copenhagen interpretation states that quantum particles do not exist in one state or another, but rather all of the possible states exist at one time. Only when it is observed does a quantum particle take on a probability. Think back to Schrödinger’s cat. The cat was both dead and alive. Schrödinger’s cat is in fact, an example of the Copenhagen interpretation. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the quantum suicide theory does not work because the direction of the quark can be observed, and eventually the quark will turn clockwise, killing the man.