Daily Archives: March 24, 2010

天才省略

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Past papers 12

“Past papers” means “past HKCEE/HKAL examination papers”. The topic is for Hong Kong students who are facing HKCEE or HKAL. But the general principles can also be used for tackling other public examinations.

這段改篇自2010年 1 月 3 日的對話。

我當年的主要問題是，我打算「讀完所有東西」。那不是正確的讀書心態，因為書是沒有所謂讀得「完」的。任何一個 topic（課題）都可以無限深入研究。正確的心態是，即使你打算於某一科拿到 A 級的成績，無論是各個課題之間，還是同一個課題的不同部分之間，都應該要權衡取捨。如果花太多時間於不太重要的部分，你將會不夠時間溫習重要的部分。

我當年溫習時不懂得「取捨」，任何課題、任何部分也企圖「徹底完成」，導致沒有足夠的時間集中火力進攻真正的重點，結果拿不到 A 級的成績。所以你要拿好成績的話，就要學懂「權衡取捨」。

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. –- William James

「天才」，就是知道什麼可以省略的人。但是要「知道什麼可以省略」，本身就要有強大的背景知識，一般人也沒有。所以如果你是「一般人」，又要「知道什麼可以省略」的話，你可以用以下兩個捷徑：

一、 靠做 pastpapers（歷來試題），歸納出重點；

二、 靠高人老師的提點。

老師的主要責任是告訴學生，什麼可以省略，什麼不可以。

— Me@2010.03.24

2010.03.24 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Matrix string theory

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In physics, matrix string theory is the first known set of equations that describe superstring theory in a non-perturbatively complete and consistent framework. Type IIA string theory can be shown equivalent to a maximally supersymmetric two-dimensional gauge theory, the gauge group of which is U(N) for a large value of N.

— Wikipedia on Matrix string theory

2010.03.24 Wednesday ACHK

Grigori Perelman

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Known for

Riemannian geometry and geometric topology

Notable awards

Fields Medal (2006), declined
Millennium Prize (2010), declined

Sir John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union, approached Perelman in Saint Petersburg in June 2006 to persuade him to accept the prize. After 10 hours of persuasion over two days, he gave up. Two weeks later, Perelman summed up the conversation as: “He proposed to me three alternatives: accept and come; accept and don’t come, and we will send you the medal later; third, I don’t accept the prize. From the very beginning, I told him I have chosen the third one… [the prize] was completely irrelevant for me. Everybody understood that if the proof is correct then no other recognition is needed.”

— Wikipedia on Grigori Perelman

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2010.03.24 Wednesday ACHK