Dave Peterson

(Doctor Peterson) A former software engineer with degrees in math, I found my experience as a Math Doctor starting in 1998 so stimulating that in 2004 I took a new job teaching math at a community college in order to help the same sorts of people face to face. I have three adult children, and live near Rochester, N.Y. I am the author and instigator of anything on the site that is not attributed to someone else.

Numerical Approximation Methods: When Algebra Doesn’t Work

The problems students see in class are usually only those that can be solved by the methods they have been taught. Too many students conclude that algebra can solve anything! But the reality is that if you just wrote an equation at random, it probably could not be solved algebraically. When students ask us about …

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Studying Math: Want a Challenge?

Many students who write to us are involved in math competitions. They don’t always say that explicitly, but we can tell when the problems they ask about may be far beyond ordinary homework, requiring deeper problem-solving skills. The three questions I’ll look at today are from students asking how to prepare for these competitions, or …

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Studying Math: Some Suggestions

Last time, we looked at some discussions we’ve had about motivation to study math. We’ve also had a few questions asking for help with study skills, and some of those answers, too, can be found in our archive. Let’s take a look.