Mathematical Techniques

An introduction for the engineering, physical and mathematical sciences

by D.W. Jordan and P. Smith

Publisher:  Oxford University Press 

ISBN:  0-19-924972-5

It is occassionally the case that aspiring mathematicians, physicists and engineers, like all humans, crave instantaneous satisfaction.  Sometimes these students tire of their seemingly endless labour:  their tastes change subtly; the sense of urgency to satiate their baser yearnings mounts and grows ever more intense, obscuring the more delicate pleasures on offer until they are little but brutish animals, half crazed by their own selfish passion for short, immediate gratification.  This is especially true in the case of engineers.

No matter how compelled we may feel to judge those poor, godless members of our brethren who succumb to such completely self-indulgent longings, we must refrain from doing so, and instead take care to remember that we, like them, are not immune to being tempted from the path of enlightenment.  However repulsed we feel by their behaviour, it is our duty to offer sympathy to these tragic creatures, to learn about and strive to understand their plight, and to offer whatever sordid means there may be for them to find an outlet for their crass desires so that they may be allowed to purge themselves and be restored to tranquil eqilibrium once more.