If I can get a total of 10 people interested I will teach a course on Elementary Mathematical Methods for Science. This will consist of units on algebra, estimation and dimensions, geometry, trigonometry, analytic geometry, calculus, linear algebra, multivariable calculus, differential equations, and probability and statistics. Possibly other topics as well.
I have 4 people interested already.
Here is how the course will be conducted:
1) Each Friday I will place material on a web site for the course. This will be in the form of a cdf file, a format created by Wolfram Research. Many of these documents will contain interactive material for you to play with. There will be a number of challenges: 2-3 will be done in complete detail, 1-2 will be done in less detail, 1-2 will be done in little detail, and 1-2 will have no detail.
2) Discussions of the work will continue on the blog until the students are done with them. If this takes 2 months, then I know that I have done something wrong.
3) Throughout the week I will monitor the blog to see what responses I get. This will determine the new material I put up on Friday of that week. I will also put up a record of the discussion formatted for the mathematics
4) Upon completion of an assignment by all participants I will post a transcription of the discussion formatted in Mathematica and converted into a cdf.
5) If people are interested, I will have a live session on Saturday evenings beginning at 8PM central time and going until 10 PM central time. This will be via Skype and will use TeamViewer as the desktop sharing software so that I can answer questions directly.
6) If I can figure out a way to do it efficiently I will produce audio lectures keyed to the material, so you can follow along.
Showing posts with label Calculus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Calculus. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2013
Friday, September 24, 2010
Book project update
I have just completed a 15 page chapter on calculus that covers limits, derivatives, integrals, differential equations, infinite series, and partial derivatives. This chapter is for the proposed classical mechanics book I am working on with Leonard Susskind.
I took a very minimalist approach to the subject. If you want to see how I crammed so much into so little, wait for the book... :-)
Actually, some of this material will likely find its way into my column (and I took some of it from my existing columns).
I took a very minimalist approach to the subject. If you want to see how I crammed so much into so little, wait for the book... :-)
Actually, some of this material will likely find its way into my column (and I took some of it from my existing columns).
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Brief on Calculus and Appreciation to Leonard Susskind for his Lectures
Hello everyone!
I have been working on the book project with Leonard Susskind. I just completed an 11-page overview of calculus with detailed material on limits, derivatives (including a short table of derivatives), integrals (with another short table of integrals), differential equations (covering mostly separation of variables), and Taylor series.
I am thinking of adding sections on partial derivatives, maxima and minima, and maybe curvature.
Of course, Leonard has not committed to anything yet; I certainly have not produced enough material to do more than whet his appetite for more. It is possible that something could happen to prevent me from finishing, and he probably does not want to stick his neck, or his reputation, out for someone who is not too well known.
I am having great fun writing this material. It is extremely challenging to develop short and clear explanations for these topics. My olf Mind of a Theorist column is good for this, the philosophy that Iadopted for the column is the same the Leonard has in the lectures.
To quote from the introduction, "What is this course about? Who am I teaching to? While undergraduate or graduate students will be able to read this, it is mostly designed for people who are interested in getting into the meat of physics right away. This is not a standard physics course. This is the real deal, theoretical physics at full scale! We use equations, and sometimes hard equations, but we try to use the simplest equations that will do the job. Basically, we try to keep it minimal. The goal here is to get to the basic ideas fast. So we will be telling you what you really, really, need to know to get to the next level. Sometimes the basics can be hard; we will do them anyway, but will only spend the minimum time required to get them right. And here we mean getting them really right, not by metaphors or analogies, but equations when necessary."
I am dazzled by the structure of the video lectures. In lecture one he introduces the ideas of dynamical systems, phase space, and conservation laws with no mathematics; just some diagrams and very clear explanations. Wonderful!
I have been working on the book project with Leonard Susskind. I just completed an 11-page overview of calculus with detailed material on limits, derivatives (including a short table of derivatives), integrals (with another short table of integrals), differential equations (covering mostly separation of variables), and Taylor series.
I am thinking of adding sections on partial derivatives, maxima and minima, and maybe curvature.
Of course, Leonard has not committed to anything yet; I certainly have not produced enough material to do more than whet his appetite for more. It is possible that something could happen to prevent me from finishing, and he probably does not want to stick his neck, or his reputation, out for someone who is not too well known.
I am having great fun writing this material. It is extremely challenging to develop short and clear explanations for these topics. My olf Mind of a Theorist column is good for this, the philosophy that Iadopted for the column is the same the Leonard has in the lectures.
To quote from the introduction, "What is this course about? Who am I teaching to? While undergraduate or graduate students will be able to read this, it is mostly designed for people who are interested in getting into the meat of physics right away. This is not a standard physics course. This is the real deal, theoretical physics at full scale! We use equations, and sometimes hard equations, but we try to use the simplest equations that will do the job. Basically, we try to keep it minimal. The goal here is to get to the basic ideas fast. So we will be telling you what you really, really, need to know to get to the next level. Sometimes the basics can be hard; we will do them anyway, but will only spend the minimum time required to get them right. And here we mean getting them really right, not by metaphors or analogies, but equations when necessary."
I am dazzled by the structure of the video lectures. In lecture one he introduces the ideas of dynamical systems, phase space, and conservation laws with no mathematics; just some diagrams and very clear explanations. Wonderful!
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