Accounting formulas?

The Internet has fundamentally changed research.

I had to write a paper on Damascus Steel for a Metallurgy class. This kind of steel is what is used in swords, developed separately in Japan (Samurai) and in the Middle East and India (Wootz), then imported to Toledo, Spain. This kind of steel is made by taking very pure iron and firing it with charcoal. The steel is then hammered, folded, hammered, folded, hundreds of times, then quenched in oil. What you get is very fine-grained iron with layers of carbon. Fine-grain steel is very strong and hard but brittle. Takes a very sharp edge, but snaps when bent. The intervening layers of carbon act like slides, allowing the layers of iron to move slightly past each other and snapping back without cracking. What you get is the best of both worlds: takes and holds a very sharp edge, but is tough and can withstand a lot of abuse. The ideal sword material. Or springs, for that matter.

After finding some books in the library, I also did an Internet search. What was interesting is that after about the third Google page, I started seeing papers citing the same core references over and over again. Different than what I found in my books, suggesting most college students go straight to the Internet and hand it in. Academics somehow accept this, but it's so much easier to find a quick answer these days. Wikipedia is a two-edged sword - fast, but subject to error, since it is based on the collective entry of lots of people. Look up G-bodies there some time...

pontiacgp said:

You learn more when you do your own research and I'm sure when his educator said to use your resources to find the answers never meant to get the answers from members of a forum. Half the battle is to learn your resources so you know where to find the answer to any particular issue.

Click to expand...

I see your point, I offer these thoughts:

1. It's a programming class and not an accounting class, so after the conclusion of this class a student should be more of an authority in programming different things. If given a similar task at a Real World company -- say a project to implement a new page or interface on the company's website -- the programmer would be given a resource -- a list of approved company equations or someone knowledgeable in such matters -- so the programmer is not entirely left on their own and wasting company money in finding answers
2. There's an assumption we have provided the correct equations ... my education was very heavy in mathematics so I scribbled something on a piece of paper until it made sense to me but I wouldn't guarantee its accuracy -- if a student didn't check my work it's no skin off my back if they received a lower grade for it
3. ... but at the same time maybe a response here would've helped someone make sense of a book of equations that all look "the same" but have different explanations

I'm reminded of the "30 for 30" about the Duke lacrosse players accused of rape; the case involved DNA evidence and one of the junior lawyers on the defense team was tasked with analyzing the results of the tests. Knowing nothing about DNA analysis, he asked other lawyers for advice on how to proceed and eventually received a recommendation to buy this book off of Amazon as it was regarded as the best primer ... he studied this book in detail for days and eventually, using this knowledge, his cross-examination of someone connected with the lab that performed the DNA testing found the prosecution had withheld evidence from the defense.