Vedic Mathematics Newsletter No. 105

A warm welcome to our new subscribers.


CHRISTMAS GREETINGS AND ALL SUCCESS IN THE NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR SUBSCRIBERS!


This issue’s article (at the end of the newsletter) is by Kenneth Williams and considers the accuracy of the ‘Speed Maths’ label that is sometimes applied to Vedic Maths.


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NEWS
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UPCOMING COURSES – 4th January 2016

Applications are being taken for three courses:
Teacher Training Course,
Introductory Course,
The Crowning Gem.
The Calculus Course starts on 1st February.
See: http://courses.vedicmaths.org



MARCH CONFERENCE

For the Online Conference 12-13th March 2016 we hope to introduce new features depending on what will be attractive to people. To this end we are thinking of accepting not just full research papers but also shorter informal papers (that need not have abstract and references) that are relevant and of interest. Please let us know of anything new you have discovered in Vedic Maths or any developments in teaching or organisations; as these can be included.

We also envisage a section for children in which they can tell us about their discoveries and the impact VM has had for them.

Your comments about all this are very welcome and of course we will be very glad to receive your submissions and inquiries at

We will start taking registrations for Conference attendance in January.

The Conference web page at: http://conference.vedicmaths.org/2016-03%20Online%20Conference.asp is being gradually updated.



VEDIC MATH INTRODUCTORY COURSE – A New Approach
by Nathan Annenberg

The Reason For This Course
When I first started learning Vedic Math, I quickly realized two issues:
    VM had the most elegant algorithms I had ever seen.
    Precisely because it was so elegant, VM needed careful, deliberate transitions.

As a math coach/consultant, my job is to help teachers make math more understandable and enjoyable to their students. A key part of this goal is that the math must NOT be a series of blindly memorized procedures to be regurgitated on exams, but rather a beautifully connected and coherent series of concepts that make perfect logical sense, even with students who have different modes of thinking. The super efficiency of VM can tempt certain teachers to just have their class copy the algorithms without any appreciation of why they are so special. I avoid this trap by devoting several lessons to build a foundational conceptual underpinning of pre-Vedic topics, so by the time I plunge headlong into pure VM, the learner is far more ready to understand and appreciate it.

I entitled this course “Lightning Fast Algorithms for the 4 Operations” for certain reasons.  
First, I deliberately left out the word “Vedic” because so many WizIQ courses had that in their titles. I want this course to stand out, including a course banner I built that is not the usual math symbols or repetition of the course name, but an opulent looking Asian design to give an impression of royalty and elegance, which is how I feel about VM anyway.
Second, I deliberately chose a foundational theme, i.e. the 4 operations, since mastery of this course will reap huge benefits with more advanced topics. (I am considering building higher level courses in the future.)
And third, I chose the words “lightning fast” because that is precisely what the student is going to get.

So enjoy this course. I hope it empowers you to empower your young charges, whether it be your students or your own children.
nathan613.wiziq.com

[Note: if you start the course, choose ‘Course Schedule’ rather than ‘Course Feed’]



TUTORIALS - IMPROVED ACCESSIBILITY
from Clive

We have been working to make the Tutorials easier to use and work on a larger range of computers and devices. These now work on Smart Phones, Tablets (and any computer that supports a HTML5 browser).

Having created the initial version of the Vedic Mathematics HTML5 Tutorial Application, I am in the process of converting the original Java based Tutorials into this new format, along with integrating the tutorials into the main website and making the pages Responsive i.e. adjust to the size of device they are on. Therefore at present there are two versions of the Tutorials available on the website, the new updated HTML5 Tutorials and the original Java based Tutorials.

So far I have converted the “Fun with Figures” Tutorial and the “Tables Practice”. These are available from the “Tutorial” menu in the “VedicMaths.Org” website. Currently I am working on converting the “Natural Calculator” Tutorials.

The “Fun with Figures” Tutorial has also been updated to include the graphics from the original book, which will hopefully make the tutorial more accessible to children, the original target audience of the “Fun with Figures” book.

Hopefully the above will make the Tutorials more accessible, as they will now:-
  * Work without having to install any extra software
  * Work on Phones and Tablets
  * Work on non-standard computers e.g. Linux (if suitable browser is available)
  * Attempt to resize for different device sizes

As the new Tutorials are using HTML5 features to implement the tutorial application, it will require a relatively recent browser. It should be noted that these Tutorials will not work on the default browsers on older computers (see the compatibility page in the Tutorials help for more information).

Constructive feedback on our attempts to improve the Tutorials is welcome.



LOST TESLA DRAWINGS FOUND

http://cbsnews.com.co/long-lost-nikola-tesla-drawings-reveal-map-to-multiplication/



VEDIC MATH BASED CRICKET TOURNAMENT - VALEDICTORY FUNCTION – 5TH JAN 2016

SWIS - Success with Self. The Self Development Academy
Plot No.76B, H.No.42-603/10/1, St. No.3
MJ Colony, Moula Ali, Hyderabad 500 040
Pantula Sreerama Sastry Memorial Vegam Premier League (VPL)
The Pantula Sreerama Sastry Memorial VPL (Vegam Premiere League) Tournament was organized by Success With Self –SWIS®, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of publication of the seminal work on 'Vedic Mathematics' by H.H.Swami Bharati Krishna Teertha, former Sankaracharya of Govardhan Math, Puri. The tournament saw keen competition among bright students from 20 schools from all over Hyderabad. Thanks to the popularity of cricket among school children, the tournament matches were highly enjoyed by the players and audience alike.
Certificates will be given to all children participating in the VPL by SWIS®. Students making it to School Team will receive special gifts. In each of the inter-school matches, trophies and gifts for the teams, Best Bowler, Batsman, Fielder, Person of the Match and Person of the Tournament awards will be given. The winning team gets a team award of Rs.25,000/- and the Trophy, Runners-up team, Rs.15000/-, Second Runner-up team Rs.10000/- , third and fourth Runners-up teams Rs.5000/- each.
To give away the Prizes, a grand valedictory function is being organized At Ravindra Bharati Auditorium, on 5th January 2016 from 9:30am to 12:30am. The prizes will be distributed at the august hands of Shri K V Ramanachary, Advisor to Govt. of Telangana and Justice(retd.) Shri L Narasimha Reddy, Former Chief Justice, Patna High Court who have kindly consented to be Chief Guest and Guest of Honor on the occasion. Famous cine playback singer Chi. Malavika has also kindly accepted our request to be present at the event and take part in the celebrations.
A Souvenir with interesting articles by Vedic Math experts is being released on the occasion. Interesting booklet ‘Fun with numbers’ will be given as a take away to all attending the function.
Reserve your time in the morning on 5th January 2016 to be with the jubilant children, partake in their victory celebrations and bless them.



ALGEBRA FOR THE TERRIFIED - reviews

"Sir two days back I have bought your e-book "Algebra for the Terrified" it is amazing. yesterday used the book to teach algebraic addition to my 8 years old daughters and they enjoyed it. Thanks a lot for such a fantastic book." Kuldeep Singh, New Delhi.

“The algebra book is indeed a great training course: clear instructions, easy to follow, and truly step-by-step.”



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ARTICLE FOR VM NEWSLETTER 105
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Vedic Maths and Speed Maths

Nowadays we often find that speed dominates. We want an item delivered immediately, we want to get as much money as possible in the shortest possible time, we want to get to our destination as quickly as possible.

It’s the same in mathematics: we want the quickest route to the answer.

So when Vedic Maths came along – which gets you to the answer fastest – it got somehow transformed, for some people, into ‘speed maths’.

This is entirely reasonable and natural, but it is not the essence of Vedic Maths.

If you are travelling along a road as fast as you can your attention is fully on the driving. Other possibilities are just not considered: you don’t see the trees and scenery and the other junctions that provide alternative routes. You may not notice some clues that there is a traffic jam up ahead.

And that car doing 30mph which you overtook 10 miles back – how come he is now coming onto your road, from the right, in front of you?

What is the connection with mathematics?
In our rush to get the answer we may miss some special characteristic of the problem at hand that makes it easier to do by a different method (the Vedic system has a variety of methods and also encourages innovation and experimentation). There may be some clue which can lead to remarkable insights not known before – but in our haste we miss them.

We must slow down, use our intelligence and be alert. By rushing we miss the opportunities and the beauty.

There are of course many routes to the answer. It's a bit like driving from A to B - you can take the usual route or you can try a different one. Taking a new route can lead to interesting discoveries and even if the journey takes longer it was well worth the detour.
 
So it's not always about speed, in fact once a method is assimilated so that you can do it very fast it becomes automatic. Being automatic means there is practically no chance of anything new happening. It's like shooting along the motorway to get to the destination as quickly as possible - all that matters is the result. When all this time you could have taken the scenic route and enjoyed the journey much more, learnt much more and maybe made some startling new discovery.

Speed is sometimes necessary but speed is not everything. The Vedic method allows not just for speed but also for creativity, spontaneity and even personal idiosyncrasy.

End of article.
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Editor: Kenneth Williams

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27th December 2015