derivative
Original: derivative on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Single panel:
A person in a purple shirt with gray hair stands at a chalkboard, holding a piece of chalk. Written on the chalkboard:
"A = THE NUMBER OF SYMBOLS IN A FUNCTION
B = THE NUMBER OF SYMBOLS IN THAT FUNCTION'S DERIVATIVE.
HOMEWORK: FIND THE FUNCTION OF FINITE LENGTH WITH THE HIGHEST RATIO OF B TO A."
Caption below the panel: "Rather than beating around the bush for a whole semester, Professor Jenkins forced us to prove that we hate differential calculus."
Votey:
A menacing-looking face leans in, speaking with a sly, threatening expression:
"NICE FRACTION YOU GOT THERE. BE A SHAME IF YOU HAD TO DO A COMPLETE TOUR OF TRIGONOMETRY TO GET A SIMPLE DERIVATIVE, WOULDN'T IT?"
A person in a purple shirt with gray hair stands at a chalkboard, holding a piece of chalk. Written on the chalkboard:
"A = THE NUMBER OF SYMBOLS IN A FUNCTION
B = THE NUMBER OF SYMBOLS IN THAT FUNCTION'S DERIVATIVE.
HOMEWORK: FIND THE FUNCTION OF FINITE LENGTH WITH THE HIGHEST RATIO OF B TO A."
Caption below the panel: "Rather than beating around the bush for a whole semester, Professor Jenkins forced us to prove that we hate differential calculus."
Votey:
A menacing-looking face leans in, speaking with a sly, threatening expression:
"NICE FRACTION YOU GOT THERE. BE A SHAME IF YOU HAD TO DO A COMPLETE TOUR OF TRIGONOMETRY TO GET A SIMPLE DERIVATIVE, WOULDN'T IT?"
Alt text
A single-panel comic. A gray-haired person in a purple shirt stands at a green chalkboard holding chalk. The board reads: 'A = the number of symbols in a function. B = the number of symbols in that function's derivative. Homework: find the function of finite length with the highest ratio of B to A.' The caption beneath reads: 'Rather than beating around the bush for a whole semester, Professor Jenkins forced us to prove that we hate differential calculus.' The joke: a homework problem designed to make students discover how monstrously long derivatives can get compared to the original function. Votey: a sinister, leering face leans in close, delivering a mob-style shakedown threat: 'Nice fraction you got there. Be a shame if you had to do a complete tour of trigonometry to get a simple derivative, wouldn't it?' The visual beat is the calculus problem reframed as an extortion threat about how brutally complicated taking derivatives can become.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.