EINSTEIN—WALTER ISAACSON

I don’t know if you have ever read a book by Mr. Walter Isaacson. He is very meticulous and tireless with the research done prior to writing.  For the book “Einstein”, he provides one hundred and eighty-eight (188) pages of sources and notes as well as a complete index relative to subject matter.  In my opinion, he is one of the best authors our country has ever produced, if you are after the absolute facts.  He does not produce fiction—just facts.

Just about every adult has heard of Albert Einstein and his Theory of Relativity AND his mathematical formula E=mC².  This formula links total energy to mass and the speed of light squared.   We all basically know that.  You mention Einstein and automatically you think of E=mC².  What I did not know: this man was a very complex individual with a tremendous independent personally.  A bit of a lady’s man to boot.

The book can be at times can be very tedious but that’s because Isaacson takes GREAT pains to provide factual and accurate information, sometimes at the expense of detailing minutia.  So, with that being the case, I will not try to re-write the book.  What I would like to do is provide several comments from noted individuals.

“An illuminating delight ……This is a warm insightful, affectionate portrait with a human and immensely charming Einstein at its core.  A wonderfully rounded portrait of the ever-surprising Einstein personality”.  Janet Maslin, The New York Times.

“Once again Walter Isaacson has produced a most valuable biography of a great man about whom much has already been written. It helps that he has had access to important new material.  He met the challenge of dealing with his subject as a human being and describing profound ideas in physics.  His biography is a pleasure to read and makes the great physicist come alive”.   

Murry Gell-Mann, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of The Quark and the Jaguar.

(NOTE:  I can’t say it any better than Dr. Gell-Mann.)  Isaacson paints a very personal picture of Dr. Einstein as well as describing the paths leading to much, if not most, of the very important work he accomplished in his lifetime.  This provides a complete picture of the man.  Einstein was remarkably focused, at times to the detriment of his family. 

“Isaacson has given us a life, not just a mind, perhaps the greatest in the twentieth century, but also a personality, as imperfect and fallible as all the rest of us.  This unique combination of sheer brilliance and human uncertainty makes this one of the greatest biographies of our time”

Joseph J. Ellis.  Author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.

“Isaacson has triumphed…producing a thorough exploration of his subject’s life, a skillful piece of scientific literature and a thumping good read…It’s one of the greatest stories of modern science and to his credit—Isaacson has done a first-rate job in telling it.  This is, quite simply, a riveting read”.

Robin McKie, The Guardian (UK)

I think you get the picture.  This is a profound book certainly worth reading.  You must be patient, take your time, check some of Isaacson’s references and sources and read the book. 

As always, I welcome your comments.

LOST YEAR

When I say lost year, I mean lost in terms of education.  Most parents and teachers would agree that the first years of a child’s education: i.e., pre-K through fifth (5) grade, are extremely important relative to teaching and learning the “basics”.  From sixth (6^th) grade to possibly tenth (10^th) grade, a student is learning how to learn.  Eleventh (11^th) and twelfth (12^th) grade a student, if taught properly, should be able to learn non-STEM subject matter on their own.   STEM subjects are difficult and generally require at some point in the learning process a teacher, either in or out of the classroom.  This is certainly true for mathematics. 

I know this sounds nuts but seventy-seven million (77,000,000) Americans do not have adequate Internet connection at home.  Only two-thirds of the people who live in the country’s bottom income bracket can access the Internet from home and one-half of those do so from a mobile cell phone.  This is according to the publication Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy organization that focuses on policymaking for a “free and open” Internet.  While one-quarter of white people lack wired “broadband”, the problem disproportionately affects the Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, one-third or more do not have access.  With that being the case, can you imagine the difficulty with some student working from home when an Internet connection is needed?  This is just what happened in 2020, our “COVID” year.  So many kids got behind; therefore, in my opinion, many students lost an entire year of learning.

We may say that is the case for students in every country to some degree.  2020 was tough year with two hundred nineteen million (219,000,000) cases and four million five hundred and fifty-five (4,550,000) deaths worldwide. 

Let’s take a look at how students in the United States compare with the rest of the world as far as progress.  It’s not really a nice picture in some instances.  One of the biggest cross-national tests is the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).  Every three years the PISA measures reading ability, math and science literacy and other key skills among fifteen (15)-year-olds in dozens of developed and developing countries. The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive thirty-eighth (38th) out of seventy-one (71) countries in math and twenty-forth (24^th) in science. Among the thirty-five (35) members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked thirtieth (30^th) in math and nineteenth (19^th) in science.

Another long-running testing effort is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a project of the federal Education Department. In the most recent NAEP results, from 2015, average math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders fell for the first time since 1990. A team from Rutgers University is analyzing the NAEP data to try to identify the reasons for the drop in math scores.

The average fourth-grade NAEP math score in 2015 was two hundred and forty (240) on a scale of zero (00 to five hundred (500), the same level as in 2009 and down from two hundred and forty-two (242) in 2013. The average eighth-grade score was two hundred and eighty-two (282) in 2015, compared with two hundred and eighty-five (285) in 2013; that score was the lowest since 2007. (The NAEP has only tested 12th-graders in math four times since 2005; their 2015 average score of one hundred and fifty-two (152) on a zero to three hundred (0-to-300) scale was one point lower than in 2013 and 2009.) 

Looked at another way, the 2015 NAEP rated forty percent (40%) of fourth-graders, thirty-three percent (33%) of eighth-graders and twenty-five percent (25%) of 12th-graders as “proficient” or “advanced” in math. While far fewer fourth- and eighth-graders now rate at “below basic,” the lowest performance level (18% and 29%, respectively, versus 50% and 48% in 1990), improvement in the top levels appears to have stalled out. (Among 12th-graders, 38% scored at the lowest performance level in math, a point lower than in 2005.)  In my opinion, this is a terrible scorecard.  We MUST do better!

If we look at country ratings, we see the following:

As you can see, this is from the PEW Research Center.  To me, this is very discouraging.  Education has become a political football and not an issue, seemingly, worth correcting.  I read a very informative article some days ago that stated our sad lack of preparedness on the part of graduating seniors has become a national security issue.  Please note, the figures above are not for the college and university students.  The United States has long been the top receiving country for international students, who historically have been drawn by the high quality of U.S. higher education, its value on the international labor market, and access to job opportunities in the United States after graduation. About one-point one (1.1) million international students were enrolled in U.S. institutions in school year (SY) 2019-20. This marked a decrease of almost twenty thousand (20,000) international students from the year before, following a decade of consistent growth. Among the key factors for this decline were the rising cost of U.S. higher education, high numbers of student visa delays and denials, a difficult political environment for immigrants under the Trump administration, and expanded opportunities to study in other countries.   The COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated these dynamics. Closures and limited access to U.S. embassies and consulates, travel restrictions, and personal safety considerations have complicated visa issuance and travel plans of international students. The Trump administration initially attempted to bar students from entering or remaining in the United States if their schools offered only online courses, although the order was quickly rescinded. Still, the move contributed to confusion and frustration for U.S. colleges and universities and their international students. At the start of the fall 2020 academic semester, the total number of international students enrolled in U.S. schools, including those physically present in the United States and studying online from abroad, decreased by 16 percent from the previous year. One in five of these students was studying online from another country. The number of new international students fell by forty-three (43) percent, in part because some chose to defer their studies.  Make no mistake about it, international students will be back after COVID, if COVID is ever controlled.  We have some of the best universities in the world.  Unfortunately, many American students can not do the work due to very poor preparation. 

As always, I welcome your comments.

WHAT’S NEXT—3 TO 5 YEARS

Nearly one-half of supply chain leaders have accelerated spending on digital technologies to make their operations more responsive and forward-looking during the COVID pandemic, according to DELOITTE.  This statement comes from the Modern Materials Handling magazine, May 2021 edition.  This study found that forty-nine percent (49%) of supply chain leaders have increased spending on various digital technologies and only twelve percent (12%) have decreased spending. 

The following technologies are expected to receive wide-spread adoption within the next three to five years:

• CLOUD COMPUTING and STORAGE– I know you hear this all the time but computer storage is moving that way very quickly.  Right now, the adoption rate is fifty-seven percent (57%) but is expected to increase to eighty-eight percent (88%) within five (5) years.  Right now, one very significant issue is privacy. Keeping company confidential digital files confidential.  As we speak, we have situations where “ransom ware” has infiltrated software and made operations problematic at best. 
• PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS— Predictive analysis is now at thirty-one percent (31%) but is expected to grow to seventy-nine percent (79%) within five (5) years.
• ROBOTIC SYSTEMS AND AUTOMATION—You knew this was coming.  Presently at thirty-eight percent (38%), will reach seventy-six percent (76%) between three and five years. Post-pandemic, we are experiencing huge issues with finding personnel capable of doing specific jobs.  Some simply do not wish to work due to government incentives. They will be replaced by automated systems if possible and as quickly as possible.
• INDUSTRIAL INTERNET of THINGS—IIoT. Currently at twenty-seven percent (27%), is expected to grow to seventy-three percent (73%) over the next three to five years. IIoT is basically interconnecting digital devices to control and run processes and systems.  This can be done using laptops, cell phones and other remote digital devices.
• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE—Currently at seventeen percent (17%), is expected to grow to sixty-two percent (62%) in the next three to five years.

When it comes to the supply chain challenges, the greatest challenge is hiring and retaining qualified and trainable employees.   Fifty-two percent (52%) of those responding to the survey indicated this problem was extremely challenging and would be for the foreseeable future.  Supply chain disruption is also a major challenge.

COVID-19 and the 2020 year was a huge complication for supply chain management.  We are right now, 3 June 2021, seeing the results of the pandemic with commodities being unavailable with deliveries otherwise delayed. 

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

There has been a great deal of discussion lately concerning UFO.  Are they real? Where do they come from?  How long have there been sightings from reliable sources.  Please take a look at the following article from the magazine “MILITARY CULTURE”.   

Encounters with unidentified aircraft by pilots have once again prompted Department of Defense officials to take action.  More specifically, the Navy confirmed that the service is drafting guidelines to establish a formal process for pilots and military personnel to report UFO sightings, Politico first reported.  The move comes following a surge in what the Navy called a series of intrusions by advanced aircraft on Navy carrier strike groups.  “There have been a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years,” a Navy spokesperson told Politico.  “For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report.  To improve upon past investigations, the Navy wants to establish a formal process so that “such suspected incursions can be made to cognizant authorities.”

The Navy confirmed a fleet-wide message on the UFO-reporting initiative is in the works.  While this development comes sans any admission of the existence of alien life, it signals a return to DoD acknowledgement that the series of recently documented encounters are at least authentic enough to warrant further investigation.

What if, and it’s a big what if, we make contact?  What if we have an opportunity to talk to these ETs?  How would we do that.  Is there a UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE we might use to strike up a conversation?  Let’s look.

Merriam-Webster defines language as “A systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures or marks having understood meanings.”  The operative words in this definition are ‘means of communicating’ and ‘understood meanings’.  There are 116 different “official” languages spoken on our planet today but 6900 languages AND dialects. The difference between a language and a dialect can be somewhat arbitrary so care must be taken when doing a “count”.  English, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Spanish etc, all have specific and peculiar dialects; not to mention slang words and expressions so the discernment between a language and a dialect may be somewhat confusing to say the least.. 

The book of Genesis (Genesis 11: vs. 1-9) recounts a period of time, during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, when an attempt was made, by mankind, to become equal with God and that one language was spoken by all the people.  We are told that the attempt was not met with too much favor and God was pretty turned off by the whole thing.  Go figure!    With this being the case, He, decided to confound their language so that no one understood the other.  This, as you might expect, lead to significant confusion and a great deal of “babbling” resulted.  (Imagine a session of our United States Congress.)  Another significant result was the dispersion of mankind over the earth—another direct result from their unwise attempt.  This dispersion of the populace “placed” a specific language in a specific location and that “stuck”. 

Regardless of the language spoken, the very basic components of any language are similar; i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, etc.  You get the picture. The use and structure of these language elements within a sentence do vary.  This fact is the essence of a particular language itself. 

Would mankind not benefit from a common language?  Would commerce not be greatly simplified if we could all understand each other? Think of all the money saved if everything written and everything spoken—every road sign and every label on a can of soup—could be read by 6.8 billion people.  Why oh why have we not worked towards that over the centuries as a collective species.  Surely someone has had that thought before.  OK, national pride, but let’s swallow our collective egos and admit that we would be well-served by the movement, ever so gradual, towards one universal language.  Let me backup one minute.  We do have one example of a world-wide common language—

MATHEMATICS

Like all other languages, it has its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and word order, synonyms, negations, conventions, abbreviations, sentence and paragraph structure.  Those elements do exist AND they are universal.  No matter what language I speak, the formula for the area of a circle is A=π/4 (D)². 

• π = 3.14159 26535 89793
• log(10)e = 0.43429 44819 03252
• (x+y)(x-y) = x²-y²
• R(1),R(2) = -[b ± ( b²-4ac)]^0.5/2a
• The prime numbers are 2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37—You get the picture.
• sinѲcscѲ = 1

 Mathematics has developed over the past 2500 years and is really one of the very oldest of the “sciences”. One remarkably significant development was the use of zero (0)—which has only been “in fashion” over the past millennium.  Centuries ago, men such as Euclid and Archimedes made the following discoveries and the following pronouncements:

If a straight line be cut at random, the square on the whole is equal to the squares on the segments and twice the rectangle contained by the segments. (Euclid, Elements, II.4, 300 B.C.) This lead to the formula:  (a + b)² = a² + b² + 2ab

The area of any circle is equal to a right-angled triangle in which one of the sides about the right angle is equal to the radius, and the other to the circumference, of the circle. (Archimedes, Measurement of a Circle, (225 B.C.)  Again, this gives us the following formula:

A = 2pr·r/2 = pr ²

These discoveries and these accompanying formulas work for ANY language we might speak. Mathematics then becomes the UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.

With that being the case, why do we not introduce the “Language of Mathematics” to our middle-school and high school pupils?  Is any school district doing that?  I know several countries in Western Europe started this practice some years ago with marvelous results.  This “language” is taught prior to the introduction of Algebra and certainly prior to Differential Equations.  It has been proven extremely effective and beneficial for those students who are intimidated by the subject.  The “dread” melts away as the syntax and structure becomes evident.  Coupled with this introduction is a semester on the great men and women of mathematics—their lives, their families, were they lived, what they ate, what they smoked, how they survived on a math teacher’s salary.  These people had lives and by some accounts were absolutely fascinating individuals in their own right.  Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus, was a real grouch, a real pain in the drain AND, had been jilted in his earlier years.  Never married, never (again) even had a girlfriend, etc etc.  You get the picture. 

What do we really know about the greatest mathematicians?  Do we ever study them when we use their wonderful work?  I think not.  Think about it.  PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!