Student: What’s the answer to 0/0?

Note: I received a copy of this book as an ARC from NetGalley. It comes out next week. I tried to stick to the concepts he describes, but I’m sorry if you see any bias.

I remember when I first took a class in linear algebra, and we were talking about vector spaces. In addition to the definition of a vector space, we were also given multiple axioms that define what the structure of a vector space looks like. This included a bunch of boring things, like the fact that if you have a vector v, you should have a corresponding vector -v such that v+(-v)=0, where 0 is the zero vector. There are eight of these axioms, and together they describe exactly what can be called a vector space.

There’s a saying among students regarding preparing for an exam. In short, it goes like this: Study a lot before the test, and then you can forget most of what you know.