Dear Shiran, Lee-Ad, and of course Shilee (Renee and Udi too),
I called today and spoke to Shiran who gave me a rundown on how everyone is. He also told me that he was busy studying and told me he was having trouble with the logarithm in math. I was thinking about it as this happens to be something that had become very important to me in my work and now I find it important on how I look at life in general. I decided to write you about this and when I went to my computer file holding the letters I sent you, I find that I haven't written (other than e-mails) in over 10 years-sorry about that.
I was wondering why Shiran and so many students find this difficult to understand and are quick to forget about it once they passed the course. I came to the conclusion that the great difficulty starts when the student sees no reason to understand or handle this mathematical function. I therefore conclude that if one is to teach the subject, then the first thing to do is provide purpose for what you are teaching. Additionally, the next thing the student should be taught is how this function relates to the linear system we first learn about. The last thing to present the student is how to handle the logarithm. Unfortunately, this is usually the first and only thing the student is presented with.