- Planes and these
multidimensional spaces,
how difficult of an
idea is that to come to,
do you think, if you
- Yeah.
- look back in time?
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] I think,
mathematically it makes sense,
but I don't know if it's intuitive
for us to imagine
- Right.
- [Interviewer] just as we
were talking about, feels like
calculus is easier to
- I see!
- intuit.
- Yeah.
Well calculus, I have to admit calculus
came earlier,
- (chuckles)
- earlier than linear algebra.
So Newton and Leibniz were the great men
to understand the key ideas of calculus.
But linear algebra, to
me, is like, "Okay!".
It's the starting point,
'cos it's all about
flat things.
- (chuckles)
- Calculus has got--
all the complications of calculus
come from the curves, the bending,
the curved surfaces.
Linear algebra, the surfaces are all flat,
nothing bent in linear algebra.
- (chuckles)
- So,
it shoulda come first, but it didn't.
And calculus also comes first
in High School classes,
and in College class,
it'll be freshman math,
that'll be calculus.
And then I say, "Enough of that!"
Like, "Okay, get to the good stuff."
and
- (chuckles)
Do you think linear
algebra should come first?
- Well it really--I'm okay with it
not coming first, but it should.
Yeah, it should.
It's simpler!
- [Interviewer] 'Cos
everything is flat (chuckles)
- [Guest] Yeah everything's flat.
Well of course, for that reason calculus
sort of sticks to one dimension,
or eventually it'd do multivariate,
but that basically means two dimensions.
Linear algebra, you take
off into 10 dimensions.
No problem.
- It just feels scary and dangerous
to go beyond two dimensions,
- Well--
- that's all (chuckles)
- (chuckles)
if everything is flat, you can't go wrong.
