I’m reading the journal of computer scientist Jacques Vallée, and in it he mentions that he flunked General Mathematics. Later, he passes it.
I’m curious what such an ambiguously titled course would have been about. Would it have been a tough smorgasbord-type course, like Harvard’s Math 55? Would it have been something on the basics of proofs, akin to a course on Mathematical Reasoning or Logic?
I have absolutely no reason to know other than curiosity.
This is the book that you’ve been reading:
http://namcub.accela-labs.com/pdf/Jacques%20Vallee%20-%20Forbidden%20Science.pdf
It speaks of “General Mathematics” as being a qualifying examination, not a course. In other words, it’s either an exam in various mathematical subjects that has to be passed before one takes certain higher-level courses or it’s an exam that one takes in various mathematical subjects that determines if one can graduate from the university with a math degree.