I have now got into revision mode by working on the further exercises of the course. There are about 100 sections in all with these additional exercises and so there is plenty to do. As planned, I am doing these at random - literally, as I am using a calculator to generate a random number which indicates which section I should tackle next. This avoids me favouring certain sections and avoiding others. It also means that I get used to working on any part of the course rather than just one particular bit. I am also working with just the Handbook and if I think it doesn't give me what I need I am adding extra notes (and this happens quite a bit).
I have now completed all the TMAs and am in the process of writing up the last two in neat. I did well on TMA03 scoring another 100%. I keep thinking that I must make a mistake at some point. I have to keep pinching myself when I think that I only dropped one mark in the TMA/CMAs for MST121 and none in the TMAs for MS221 and now I haven't yet dropped a mark for M208. It'll all end in tears at some point!!
This leads me to think sometimes that I have missed my vocation. The problem is that it is all too late now. If I wanted to take it all further, it would mean another 3 years or so of a degree, then some sort of masters or PhD, by which time I would be pushing late 50's. Who would want to give me a job then and how much would I realistically expect to achieve? I should have done this all 10 or 20 years ago.
Ach, well, I can still study. I have just acquired another book on number theory in a sale at Blackwells. This is Elements of Number Theory by John Stillwell. It looks more approachable than some of the other number theory books and it may get me deeper into this subject. Edinburgh library has a good selection of books and I was surprised to find such a technical book as A first course in general relativity by Bernard F. Schutz. I couldn't resist taking it out on loan even though I know I will probably only read a few pages. If only I had more hours in the day!
