small is beautiful

I'll let you into a secret: I'm a bit of a geek.

I want to find out as much as I can about loads of things.

I mean, not everything, of course (I don't really care too much about who's winning Pop Idol, for instance, or how to paint the perfect nails..), but quite a few things, for sure.

You can't do it all at once, though, can you? Little by little, step by step, and all that.  So a few weeks ago, Wombling (that's me) embarked on an eight-week, part-time eLearning course.  "See what it's like," I thought,  "after all, it's being offered free-of-charge.."

And what is it like?  Properly interesting, that's what! I'm really glad I enrolled.

"Introduction to Sustainability", run by Professor Jonathan Tomkin of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for coursera.org is pretty damn top, I'd say (assessment logistics/test feedback aside, at least).  You should check out what else coursera have got on offer - there are loads of different courses to choose from.

Anyway, quite apart from introducing me to new materials and concepts (this week I'm just getting to grips with the 'Tragedy of the Commons' - ooh-er, missus!), the course has been reminding me of some great lecture videos off t'interweb.

One of them, an absolute classic which everyone should watch, is this eight-parter (find the other 7 parts through the links on YouTube) all about interpreting statistics, what percentages really represent, exponential growth, and how quickly tiny numbers can have devastating effects.

See, this maths - and its comprehension by the average Joe - is blatantly imperative for the health - nay, the very survival - of ourselves and the planet, don't you rec? Glad you watched it? I was!

And they say small things can't make a difference.


Humbug.




"Inch by inch, life's a synch... Yard by yard it's very hard" - Wombling's mum's wisdom, inherited from I know not where.

"If you think a small thing can't make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito in the room!" - Anon.

"Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world.  Indeed, they are the only ones who ever have." - Margaret Mead