A Book Review of “ A Mind for Numbers” written by Barbara Oakley
The book entitled “A Mind for Numbers” written by Barbara Oakley is full of good tips and is an encouraging read for anyone that is interested in or is considering pursuing a career in sciences/engineering or math. Ironically, the author does point out that a lot of us are either scared or overwhelmed by these disciplines even though we are interested in them. Part of the issue is we approach these areas with study habits that may not be proficient. Our intentions are good, it is just the way we go about things that makes it harder that can lead to frustrations and discouragement. That is the reason why I decided to review this book, for people who are interested in sciences/engineering that may need to explore a different avenue that will be encouraging on how to approach these disciplines. In essence, sciences/engineering are hard topics for most of us, just because we are interested in them does not mean it is easy or it is intuitive. So, to find tips and suggestions as this book does, I do believe is beneficial.
Before I go into some of the concepts of the book, I would like to be clear, this blog is not to persuade anyone of us to go into sciences or engineering if we are not inclined to. With all the interviews I have done there are a lot of us that are not technical. We do not want a career in these technical disciplines as we have other attributes/skills and we want to make use of them, and that is fine and good. This blog is more to highlight some of the tips that the books suggest for those of us that may be interested in pursuing a career in these technical fields and also clear up any misconceptions about sciences and engineering.
My interview with Alistair Bentley points out https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/what-a-person-can-do-with-a-math-degree math is hard and even for someone like him who majored in math, he had to work at. His advice is simple, you have to work at it and you have to want to embrace the challenge that comes with math. The book has many examples of real-life experiences where people wanted to pursue such a career because they were generally interested in it and wanted to pursue it, accepting the challenge as Alistair points out.
The more time we spend on something the better, right? Well maybe? Many of us fall into the trap of putting big blocks of time (2 – 3 hours) away to work on math. Within the first 20 minutes, we hit roadblocks and we get frustrated and then this leads to discouragement not to mention stress. Math in particular is conceptual and it is because of this it takes time for the brain to grasp or understand the concepts. Therefore, working on math problems for small blocks of time and walking away letting the ideas simmer can help more so and be more productive. Give yourself time to digest ideas as my interview with Chandler Cook https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/working-and-living-in-silicon-valley-part-1 states. Walking away and doing something else that is relaxing such as driving or playing golf can help. During these relaxing activities is when we have more of those breakthroughs.
Understanding the problem is a good tip that is suggested. Many of us have fallen into the trap where we attend a math class and are given a list of questions for homework. Then at home or during our spare time, we approach these questions by pushing through the questions. We look for recipes without really understanding what we are trying to resolve. A good part of learning is creating. When we are learning a new concept or applying a familiar concept to a new type of problem taking the time to understand what we are trying to solve is just as important and can take just as much time as the mechanics of doing the exercise. Paul McNeil talks about this in his interview when he was doing his research for his doctorate. https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-passion-for-dinosaurs-working-as-a-paleontologist
Check and review work. I am sure all of us have fallen into this as we go through our work to get it done without checking it. Checking our work will highlight our mistakes this is hard and this is why a lot of us omit this step. Also, if we are not one hundred percent sure of our work this makes checking it even harder because we do not want to admit to ourselves that we do not understand it. Ignorance can be blissful. Reviewing our work is one of the best ways to learn something for one thing it does enforce what we have learned. Something to keep in mind when we are solving a problem is that our mindset is different as opposed to when we are checking something - we are looking at it with a critical eye, this is a different skill and can further solidify that we better understand the material. This is hard but it is important. Some suggestions that can make this more tolerable and proficient are in the next paragraph.
Explaining to ourselves and/or others what we have learned is a great asset to have. This process will clarify things for sure. If we are explaining to ourselves, do it by talking it out loud as it will help in being honest with ourselves. And we need to be honest with ourselves because if are not we are just setting ourselves up for disappointment. This then leads to the next tip which is to be able to work with others and this will include tutors as well. Having others look at our work can highlight uncertainty or mistakes. To be able to explain our thought process on a problem to someone else demonstrates our ability in understanding the material. This can be uncomfortable as it can put us on the spot and no one likes criticism. The one thing to remember is not to take the criticism personally but more so focus more on understanding the problem itself.
I have only highlighted a couple of points from the book. It is a good and encouraging read full of examples and real-life stories about how others have overcome their difficulties. We can achieve a great deal but it is not just putting our minds to it but how we go about it as well that can make a big difference. Sometimes we just need a bit of help and this is what this book offers. Thanks for reading and I hope this blog has helped.