> > OK, I was reading that Geometry Speak story [from a bit ago, I know] and it reminded me o my old Geometry class. Our teacher was this really nice guy and, in the middle of one of our units involving proofs, he showed this thing to the group of us that actually cared about the class. Being me, I spent most of his lecture trying to figure it out. I knew all the stuff anyways. Math is easy. Well, I tried to remember it. I think there was more, but here is the informal proof for 2=1.
> >
> > Given: a=1; b=1
> > Thus, a=b [reference number 1]
> >
> > b^2 - a^2 = b^2 - a^2 [reflexive property]
> > b^2 - a^2 = b^2 - aa [def. square]
> > b^2 - a^2 = b^2 - bb [ref. #1]
> > (b-a)(b+a) = b(b-a) [undistributing]
> > b+a = b [subtract like term from both sides of equation]
> > 1+1 = 1 [a=1; b=1]
> > 2 = 1
> >
> > Chr"makes up her own proof format and geometric terms"is
>
> Ah. Cool. This is the first proof I've seen for why "Division by zero" is an illegal operation in mathematics. You know how that's one of the first rules you learn in elementary school, but never knew why it's so? Well now you *know*, because of stuff like this. Isn't it exciting? :-)
>
>
> > Yay! My brother came back! He's supposed to be in Fairbanks!
> > Ugh... never thought I'd be glad to see him.
> > Happy Thanksgiving, all.
>
> Likewise, a Happy Thanksgiving; may grace and peace go with you all, in family and friendship.
>
> Wolfspirit

Some of you math folks will like this:
A friend of mine taught 8th grade math. He was a pretty good mathmatician. One day a student came in with an equation that strung out all the way across the page, and said, "Can you solve this equation, Coach?" He put it aside and didn't pick it up until lunch time. He spend about 30 minutes calculating and then abruptly dropped his pencil and pushed it aside. He had just found the "times zero" about 3/4 of the way across the page.
Howard