The 10 Most Important Lessons 20 Years of Mathematics Taught Me
1. Breaking the rules is often the best course of action.
I canβt even count the number of math-breaking ideas that propelled science forward by light years.
We have set theory because Bertrand Russell broke the notion that βsets are just collections of things.β
We have complex numbers because Gerolamo Cardano kept the computations going when encountering ββ1, refusing to acknowledge that it doesnβt exist.
Even looking at the definition used to make me sweat, let alone trying to comprehend the pattern. Yet, there is a stunningly simple explanation behind it.
Let's pull back the curtain!
First, the raw definition.
This is how the product of A and B is given. Not the easiest (or most pleasant) to look at.
We are going to unwrap this.
Here is a quick visualization before the technical details.
The element in the i-th row and j-th column of AB is the dot product of A's i-th row and B's j-th column.