How to Excel at Math and Science

This video covers a summary of the book "how to excel at math and science." Whether you are a high school student struggling with math and science, or a college student studying engineering, math, physics, etc and are doing well, the techniques taught are meant for you.

Becoming strong in math and science is not something that happens over night. You need to consistently be practicing and studying while using the tips talked about in the book.

Two modes of thinking to remember include focused mode and diffuse mode thinking. These are where you are focused intensely on a problem, then when you let your mind wander and are more relaxed respectively. In order to excel in subjects that especially involve creativity, you need to participate in both forms of thinking.

Some tips to help avoid procrastination include trying the Pomodoro technique, focusing on the process over the product, do the most disliked jobs first, and use mental contrasting. Remember you can't learn math and science on a deep level in one night. It's important you focus on learning a little everyday and don't put off homework until the last minute because your brain won't be able to learn absorb all the material on an optimal level.

[luck]

One thing that I noticed to be surprisingly helpful is "false start": when you are a tiny bit ahead of your peers, just because you started learning the topic a little bit earlier. It gives you satisfaction and makes you enjoy the subject. When I was returning from library during my 5th grade, I stuck in a traffic jam, and read half of the physics textbook. It took me like 2 hours, maybe. In classroom I was the best student in physics, and it made me enjoy this subject. After few years I won first place in my city on a physics Olympiad. That 2 hours in a traffic jam is nothing in comparison to thousands of hours that I dedicated to learning physics later, but they gave me a privilege that made me enjoy the process of studying physics.

[lynettemojica]

I remember writing some c++ code but I couldn't get it to work properly. I took a nap and woke up knowing exactly what line to change and it worked perfectly.

[MetalGildarts]

The author went from failing math in high school...to getting PhD in engineering...there's hope for me...

[thefakepie]

"give yourself a break"
schools : "wait, that's illegal"

[hollismarshall]

School taught me to learn but it never taught me how to learn. Thank you for this vid

[aminods]

The reason I never understood math for the LONGEST time was because I never cared about the basics, I just looked at the way the teacher did the equation and tried to apply the process to my work that's why I never understood when to use the quadratic equation or Pythagorean theoram. If you you find it hard to understand maybe this might be the first step you take. I used to think I was stupid because everyone else got it and I didn't, I mean I still am but not as bad.

[obaid]

Once in math class our teacher was teaching us how to solve certain equations and a kid gave a difficult question from the textbook to the teacher and the teacher and all of the students in class weren't sure on how to do it. After five minutes the class ended and later that day on my way home from school I was sitting in the bus and then I was thinking of the equation and suddenly the answer came to me and it was so simple. I find it cool how that french mathematician and I found the answer to the math problem on the bus.

[daniel]

My tip: Imagine that the part of a subject you are learning hasnt been discovered, and you are the first to know about it and understand it. This will give you motivation to learn deeper. (from my experience)

[zaidm]

Is this why we think of our best arguments after our argument is over?😂😂

[MoneyR]

The awkward moment when you go into diffuse mode and it lasts an entire semestre.

[NotALizardPerson]

Oh I get it!

moves on to an unrelated video.

[jlarellano]

I tried the diffused method during our exam... An hour later
.
.
the exam is over.

[FishoeShoe_da_great]

I had to make my physics homework one time and I got stuck on a difficult question where I couldn't come up with an answer. I decided to give up and go to bed. But when I was sleeping, the solution suddenly came up in my head! I quickly woke up to write it down (cause I would surely forget) and turns out that it was actually right. It's really weird.

[raynprice]

The fact that people didn't succeed at first, took a break from trying to learn math, then picked it back up and ran with it later on in their life just further proves that this theory of learning works (in their context at least).

[m_]

The book is actually really helpful. I got from getting 2% more than required for passing my math test to getting 95% in finals

[cadencejames]

Ahh so this is where shower thoughts come from

[Aaqq]

I think my brain is stuck in diffuse mode haha

[photografr]

I'm a writer on scientific topics. When I'm stuck, I walk my dog. As I'm walking my dog, when I'm not focused on the problem at all, the answer "just comes to me." Then I race home and make sure I write down what I came up with when I least expected it. I thought it was just me, until I saw this video! :)

[Olemier]

This is why exams sort of annoy me. I need to have time to let my mind wander. I’m in Computer Science, I can’t help but feel like my career colleges in the future aren’t gonna set a stopwatch every time I need to set up an algorithm/work with a data structure. It’s a frustrating reality to face when you’re in school

[ramsesclviii]

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”- Albert Einstein