Friday, April 13, 2007

Why yes, I do use partial derivatives, thank you

Most odd conversation I've had regarding my dissertation recently-- at a happy hour.
Context is chatting about our summer travels, Alma and her book, blah blah blah
"So, was that your dissertation?"
No, a side project.
"What was your dissertation on?"
Population models of prairie turnips.
"Do you use differential equations?"

4 comments:

Tucson Trekker said...

Were you talking to a math person?

Sparkling Squirrel said...

Yes, but not knowingly so. She's a quiet spoken Kentucky woman, the wife of an English prof and mother of two wild kids in my acquaintance. So the comment struck me as way out of the blue.

Tucson Trekker said...

Certainly odd. Not the first question most people ask about prairie turnips. Maybe she had a gripping experience with partial derivatives in a past life. Did she want to know anything else about your work?

Sparkling Squirrel said...

Apparently this woman was a math person who was sad she'd never really been able to apply her differential equations. She knew that population dynamics uses such math, so really just wanted to jump right in when I mentioned population projections. She did not want to know anything about prairie turnips, or even what they are.