Hello there again!
I've just come across this delightful animation from the Royal Institution, supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
It tells us about how ancient Greek thought influenced the way we think about Mathematics, and ultimately about... everything else.
I take the chance, with this video, to make you reflect about similar words. In this case, proof and evidence. They are near synonyms in certain contexts, but as usual... the collocations make the difference. So always keep a good record of where the word appears, what the topic is, and what words it collocates with. For example, evidence tends to appear quite a lot in contexts related to court, justice, and the like. Proof is often used in science, as in this video, where it is used to talk about demonstrations of theorems.
Not to mention the fact that both can be either countable or uncountable, so we must always be careful with the verb and articles we use!
Always look up the examples in good monolingual dictionaries to help with these aspects. In the best scientific spirit, read the examples provided by the dictionary to draw conclusions of use, deduce and then test (through trial and error: use use use, make mistakes, correct your assumptions). The activity here includes:
1. Reading the definitions of "evidence" and "proof" in the Learner's Dictionary widget on the right of the page. Taking notes if necessary.
2. Answering these questions:
-What is the definition of "proof" in the video?
-According to the video, what is a good proof?
3. Writing down some collocations of the word "proof" used in the video.
4. Enjoying the video!
Key here. Enjoy!
The Greek Legacy: How the Ancient Greeks Shaped Modern Mathematics from 12Foot6 on Vimeo.
It tells us about how ancient Greek thought influenced the way we think about Mathematics, and ultimately about... everything else.
I take the chance, with this video, to make you reflect about similar words. In this case, proof and evidence. They are near synonyms in certain contexts, but as usual... the collocations make the difference. So always keep a good record of where the word appears, what the topic is, and what words it collocates with. For example, evidence tends to appear quite a lot in contexts related to court, justice, and the like. Proof is often used in science, as in this video, where it is used to talk about demonstrations of theorems.
Not to mention the fact that both can be either countable or uncountable, so we must always be careful with the verb and articles we use!
Always look up the examples in good monolingual dictionaries to help with these aspects. In the best scientific spirit, read the examples provided by the dictionary to draw conclusions of use, deduce and then test (through trial and error: use use use, make mistakes, correct your assumptions). The activity here includes:
1. Reading the definitions of "evidence" and "proof" in the Learner's Dictionary widget on the right of the page. Taking notes if necessary.
2. Answering these questions:
-What is the definition of "proof" in the video?
-According to the video, what is a good proof?
3. Writing down some collocations of the word "proof" used in the video.
4. Enjoying the video!
Key here. Enjoy!
The Greek Legacy: How the Ancient Greeks Shaped Modern Mathematics from 12Foot6 on Vimeo.
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