I’ve always found calculus, algebra and analysis to be a challenge since I do not have a natural aptitude for grasping the abstract and did not undergo complete math immersion, which I think is essential to thinking with equations. After a university course in Astronomy I figured that I would take Astrophysics and soon regretted it when I realized that it was all math. Sure enough though, when I spent some quality time with the math it started to make sense, but I did not continue because the reward, though confidence-building, was not profound enough to warrant the investment. Although there was some math with the biological sciences it was not nearly as onerous. Once out of uni all the math skills were jettisoned, virtually littering my meager wake.
Years later, I needed to go back to physics in order to design and build a bass loudspeaker. All speaker designing requires some math but that is mostly managed with software, such as LEAP. My problem was that the single, very expensive 15” bass driver I had was not efficient enough to complement the main speakers, which turned out to deliver more bass than my plan anticipated. So much so, in fact, that an additional bass unit was not really needed. Nonetheless, abandoning a $600. driver (woofer) did not sit well with me. My only option beyond purchasing a second driver (not going to happen) was to increase the efficiency of the existing unit. That plan required “horn-loading” the woofer to boost its efficiency (more dB / watt). The project made it necessary for me to go back to the university library to investigate acoustical physics journals for horn designs. I found a decent article featuring dreaded MATH and therefore I needed to study the math and recoup some semblance of understanding, at least enough to apply the equations in order to determine the requisite parameters: horn throat area, pre-throat volume, horn taper rate, and horn mouth area. More conventional math was then needed to work out a configuration within a cabinet to fold the horn on itself. For long wavelengths that demanded three separate constructions: one housing the woofer and the horn’s throat, a connecting piece representing the early flare of the horn and a final cabinet to include the mouth, which could never be large enough and therefore needed the floor and a corner of the stage to complete the terminus of the acoustic tunnel. It was a hard build but fun. Some of the best stuff in life requires math. I just never thought I would be doing math for fun. Oh, did I mention that I was from another planet.
