8/6     So, i'm just wondering, how important is Math 53 (multivariable
        calculus - i believe it was 50a in the olden days) to a non-graphics
        software engineer career.
        \_ Math is useless.  Major in the social sciences.  Go to law
           school.  Learn some social skills.  You'll make more money and
           meet better looking people.
        \_ All math is massively valuable to intelligent people who intend
           to have careers using thier brain in any respect whatsever.
           \_ In fact I am of the opinion that an entire second major (in math)
              is worth the time and effort if you have enough units to spare.
              -- ilyas
           \_ keep in mind there are all kinds of math, so if you are not
              into "the calculus" or maybe don't believe in real numbers,
              there is still all kinds of logic, algebra, and formal calculus
              that can be useful in later life. friendly intros in the philo,
              comp sci, cog sci, and linguistics dep'ts exist so you don't
              have to suffer a grad level math class you didn't mean to try.
              \_ Spelling looks fine to me.  Some of the grammar is spotty.
           If you doubt the usefulness of a math class, you should probably
           switch to business, or some other major thot does not require
           brain usage.
        \_ Why bother getting a CS degree.  Just get a job.
        \_ It was Math 50B. Math 50A was linear algebra and o.d.e . It may
           or may not be useful depending on what sort of software you
           develop. Take it anyway. --dim
        \_ Math 50A became Math 54, Math 50B became Math 53 (I was taking
           them during the rename).  I don't do graphics and don't find
           the material to be particularly relevant to anything I've done
           since then, but I feel that math classes like that are good
           for improving general problem-solving skills (which are very
           relevant to what we all do as computer programmers).  They're
           also an annoying form of torture, because Berkeley doesn't
           seem to have any profs left who can teach undergrad math.  You
           either get a good TA and learn from them, or you suffer.
        \_ You don't need it, even if you do graphics   -muchandr
           \_ U must n0t B smairt bc eye red 0n D m0te-D dat 2 B smairte eye
              nede 2 n0e l0tz uv maths s0 eye kan werk for 3d-ef-x or da
              d00m guyz n B k00l!  0nlee maths peeple R smairte!!!1111@@@
           \_ I dispute this... if you are doing graphics at anything above
              the undergrad level, multivariable calculus is a necessity,
              as are a few other branches of math.  But I guess that's not
              important since the dude doesn't wanna to graphics.  Lemme
              important since the dude doesn't wanna do graphics.  Lemme
              ask this: does he plan on doing any kind of specific programming,
              or does he want to be an unspecialized (unskilled?) coder?
              That will make the question easier to answer.   -blojo
        \_ It can be useful if you ever have to deal with statistics and/or
                probability beyond the basic level
        \_ For what it's worth, I remember 50a as being Linear Algebra, not
           the same thing as multivariable calculus.  There is overlap, but.