Re: [Edu-sig] Group Theory for Girl Scouts (and Boys too)

2013-07-19 Thread Kirby Urner
> There's some playfulness here, with duck typing, in that the parameter > name suggests a set, yet we pass a string, then work with listifications. > This allows more types of input, yet the output should always be: a dict, > a mapping, a permutation. Running it now, I get: > > P1: {'1': '6', '

[Edu-sig] Group Theory for Girl Scouts (and Boys too)

2013-07-18 Thread kirby urner
One of my favorite topics in mathematics which I think is accessible to kids, is that of "permutations" treated as objects, and made to "compose". To this I affix the notion of "substitution code" or "club house code", one of the simplest ciphers imaginable, and we're off, studying Group Theory. Th