It's hard for me to comprehend that someone could understand any subtle (or even... | Hacker News

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jeffdavis on July 29, 2012 | parent | context | favorite | on: Is Algebra Necessary?

It's hard for me to comprehend that someone could understand any subtle (or even not-so-subtle) distinctions or complex arguments without at least a basic understanding of algebra and statistics.

I could be wrong though. What about famous thinkers like Jefferson or Lincoln -- did they understand algebra and statistics at all?

Thrymr on July 29, 2012 [–]

Jefferson was quite well educated in science and mathematics for the day:

http://www.math.virginia.edu/Jefferson/jefferson.htm

Geometry was prominent in those days, but as a student he also learned physics with Newton's Principia and Optiks as textbooks.

Lincoln was mostly self-educated, but I have no idea what his background in math was.

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