6.055J/2.038J (Spring 2010)Reading memos[First section borrowed almost verbatim from Edwin F. Taylor, ‘Guest comment: Only the studentknows’, American Journal of Physics 60(3):201–202 (March 1992).]Students!I have a problem with which only you can help. I have been working on these notes too intently andfor too long to see what is wrong with them. Only you, coming fresh to the subject, can recognizewhere they fail to help you understand. In this you are a world-class expert! Will you help?As you read the notes jot down, either on a printed copy of the notes or on the NB online commentsystem, difficulties as they appear; mark the location of the problem as specifically as possible. As youare reading, if you cannot figure out what is wrong, note that too! If a later passage clears up apoint, note that too in your comments. The original comment on the confusing spot and the latercomment along the lines of ‘Oh, now I see/know why . . . ’, are both useful – for they tell me that Ihave explained material in a confusing order. At the end of the reading, note general difficulties thatyou have and questions that you would like answered. Do not revise your notes; it is importantthat they be spontaneous, written down at the very minute you are reading and wondering about apoint.If you do not understanding an equation, derivation, or passage, it is my fault. Help me pinpointwhere the notes fall short. Submit your reading memo online using the NB system. If you madeyour comments on a printed copy of the notes, transfer those comments to NB. NB is a kind of socialnetworking site: You can see comments left by other students (unless the comment was submittedas a private comment or as just for the instructor); there you can help answer the questions fromother students and participate in a discussion.Parable of the blind carpenter. I am like a carpenter who has spent years building a house. During thattime the carpenter has gradually gone blind, now cannot see the house at all, and must rely on the occupantsof the house to report what is wrong: ‘We need more cupboards in the kitchen’, or ‘Water is leaking intothe bedroom.’ Even though blind, the carpenter is still a competent worker and can fix most things, evensome things that the occupants do not fully understand, such as exactly where the roof leaks. But the blindcarpenter cannot fix things without being alerted by the occupants.Will you help me finish this house? Thank you.How reading memos help youReading memos help me and you. First, you get practice reading a technical textbook. The worldis large and there are many lifetimes of fascinating ideas to learn. If you can learn from books, youhave mastered a lifelong skill. Second, by reading with attention and with a questioning attitude,you participate in your own learning. That skill too will be useful for your whole life.Third, reading memos reverse the usual teacher–student hierarchy. To see the contrast, think aboutproblem sets. If you cannot solve a problem, you might feel incapable; I often felt that way as astudent. On a reading memo, when you find a confusing spot, you have found a problem in thenotes: You are right and I am wrong!Reading memos / 6.055J/2.038J: Art of approximation in science and engineering (Spring 2010) 2One of my teachers, Donald Knuth, was so interested in knowing of all such problems that he wouldwrite us a check for $2.56 for every mistake that we found. I’m not as generous; on the other hand,maybe Knuth was not giving away much – who would cash a check from Knuth?Use the reading memos to practice reading technical material, to practice formulating questions,and to be an expert.How I will use reading memosThe reading memos will be due at 10pm the evening before each lecture. In other words, submityour NB comments by that time. Then I will use your comments to prepare what we do in theexamples, demonstrations, explanations, and discussions questions for
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