I remember asking my teacher why
I needed to study math. It was difficult
for my brain to comprehend and for some unknown reason, wrong answers would
always show up on my test papers. That
seemed to annoy him.
He told me to stay after school some
day and he would explain why math was so important. It was two weeks later when I had the
opportunity to hang around after school, so I looked him up and asked him to
explain it to me.
Much to my surprise, he was at
his desk grading papers but also drinking a beer. When he saw my shocked expression he said, “Because
it is after hours, I can enjoy a refreshing beverage.” I just ignored it. But then he went on with his explanation of why
math is important.
“Assume you own a brewery.” He held up his beer can. “You have everything it takes to make your
product, including a very sophisticated machine to form the beer can, add the label
and another machine to box them up for shipment.”
I just nodded, not really knowing where he was going with all this.
“Now, look at this…”
“The machine that forms this can
must come up with a very exacting pressure in order to crease this pull tab
just the right amount, so the average finger, on the average person, can pull –
with very little effort, and have this pop open. It takes math to calculate that pressure.”
This isn’t your first beer, is
it?
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