In the Dark

Hey ho.

This morning, as usual for a Friday, the alarm went off at 6am and I started the slow process of getting my brain in gear for a two-hour 9am lecture. As usual, by the start of the lecture I was still trying to wake up, but I at least managed to get through the performance  making only  finite number of errors.

The topic for day was Fourier series, and especially how to use them to solve interesting partial differential equations. The one I chose to illustrate the general method of separation of variables was the heat conduction equation, appropriately enough because Joseph Fourier, the man himself, developed the idea of using   trigonometric functions to represent other functions in order to solve that equation; he presented the method in his book Théorie analytique de la chaleur way back in 1822.

During the lecture I also had to distribute another bunch of questionnaires to the students to allow them to give constructive feedback vent their spleen at my incompetence and lack of organization. We already had one set of questionnaires halfway through the term, so I’m not sure why we need another one. Perhaps the students gave the wrong answers to the questions last time, so this is like a resit?

When it was all over, and I returned to my office to recover,  I suddenly realised that it was my last Cardiff lecture ever. (There is in fact another week remaining before the Christmas break, but I’m away next week and a colleague will fill in for me. ) In fact, it might have been my last undergraduate lecture ever, as I’m not sure how much time I’ll get for actual teaching when I move to my new job in the New Year. I think I’ll miss it, actually, but I’m not sure the students will!

Still, at least I get to set my alarm to a more sensible time from now on.