In message <uqd2o3$1g58o$1@dont-email.me> at Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:25:38,
Rosie Mitchell <walneyrose@gmail.com> writes
[]
>My mum wasn't keen on the idea of me learning to type either, but that
>was because, as the youngest in a working-class family, and a late
>child to boot, she was packed off to the council school to learn to
>type then at 14 sent to earn her keep in the shipyard typing pool. She
>was a bright lady who I'm sure in different life circumstances could
>have gone to university, and I believe she knew and resented that for
>the rest of her life.
[]
My great-aunt was a marvellous cook/household manager - which my mum
always said was because she was very bright, but going into service was
the only opportunity available, to a young girl in a mining family in
those days, and she always resented having to have done so. Presumably
far from an unusual situation.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur". ("Anything is more impressive if
you say it in Latin")

In message <d04ksilvl02o58kqv0994q5dpe06l0fsfl@4ax.com> at Mon, 12 Feb
2024 12:44:55, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
[]
>I never realised was how much of a university engineering course
>is actually maths. There is just so much that I never understood,
>and even the bits I did grasp are lost in the mists of time.
[]
Yes, and it was quite a shock, having mostly found maths fairly easy
through school; uni-level maths was a different ball-game!

The above reminds me of my "Flowers for Algernon" moment: I distinctly
remember finally understanding "s parameters" (a concept in electronics,
to do with input and output impedances) for about half an hour.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur". ("Anything is more impressive if
you say it in Latin")

On 12/02/2024 13:59, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> In message <d04ksilvl02o58kqv0994q5dpe06l0fsfl@4ax.com> at Mon, 12 Feb
> 2024 12:44:55, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
> []
>> I never realised was how much of a university engineering course
>> is actually maths. There is just so much that I never understood,
>> and even the bits I did grasp are lost in the mists of time.
> []
> Yes, and it was quite a shock, having mostly found maths fairly easy
> through school; uni-level maths was a different ball-game!
>
> The above reminds me of my "Flowers for Algernon" moment: I distinctly
> remember finally understanding "s parameters" (a concept in electronics,
> to do with input and output impedances) for about half an hour.

I am convinced I only passed the Electronics paper in my Physics degree
by pretending the course was called "Functions of Several Variables".

john

On 12-Feb-24 13:54, J. P. Gilliver wrote:

> My great-aunt was a marvellous cook/household manager - which my mum
> always said was because she was very bright, but going into service was
> the only opportunity available, to a young girl in a mining family in
> those days, and she always resented having to have done so. Presumably
> far from an unusual situation.

Not at all unusual.
In fact going into service was often preferred to (for the oldest
daughter) being kept at home as an unpaid servant who did the cooking,
cleaning, and looking after her younger siblings (and later her parents
as they aged).

--
Sam Plusnet

On Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:44:55 +0000, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk>
wrote:

>Jenny M Benson wrote:
>
>>I first encountered a computer when I was at Teacher Training College in
>>the early 70s. Maths being my specialist subject I was required to do a
>>Computing module the first year. I was *hooked*. The second year I was
>>the only student who opted for Computing. I bet that a few years down
>>the line there were quite a few teachers who wished they'd opted in.
>
>In my final year at college (Electrical Engineering 1967-71) I
>had selected Computer Science, as a final year option, but this
>was over subscribed, and I had to think again.
>
>I remember my disappointment, having chosen instead a
>"Machines" option, to be presented with a large matrix and
>being told that, for the purposes of this analysis, the design
>details were pretty irrelevant, all large machines reduced to
>this grid of numbers.
>
>I never realised was how much of a university engineering course
>is actually maths. There is just so much that I never understood,
>and even the bits I did grasp are lost in the mists of time.
>
If you haven't seen it before, you might enjoy this...

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/02/16_bit_cpu_excel/

It's the operation of a 16-bit cpu emulated in Excel.

Nick