Prof Starbird Mathematics Courses

I'm a big fan of courses produced by The Teaching Company, so I bet similarly-minded blog readers might also enjoy such courses. My favorite instructor is Prof Michael Starbird. I noticed that three of his four courses are on sale until 14 June:

When I say "sale" I mean "buy these now or wait another year until they are on sale again," because a course currently selling for $69.95 will be $254.95 most of the year.

I took all sorts of math courses through college and probability and statistics courses through graduate school, but I never developed the sense of understanding that Prof Starbird conveyed.

After watching Prof Starbird's first course, The Joy of Thinking: The Beauty and Power of Classical Mathematical Ideas, my wife and I visited Prof Starbird at his office at the University of Texas. I don't think he ever had a "fan" visit before, because he gave us a prop from the course (triangles used to prove the Pythagorean Theorem, I think).

I saw Prof Starbird published a new book titled Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas. I have to admit I still haven't read the first edition of his book The Heart of Mathematics, so I should try to bring that book on a plane soon.

I also like history courses from The Teaching Company and I've even watched a course on music, but that's not what I expect my fellow technophiles to want to read in this blog.

Comments

Unknown said…
Sounds intriguing! I especially like the look of that book, Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas. Definitely looks fun and enjoyable.
12:09 PM
Anonymous said…
Whaddayaknow! The Statistics lecture is available on DVD free through my local library. What a cheapskate I am!
12:39 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
1:02 PM
Anonymous said…
"Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas" sounds interesting. A good story about chaos/entropy/thermodynamics is "the last question" by Isaac Asimov.
If you really like calculus, and you want to read some theory you should read:
Vector Calculus
by Jerrold E. Marsden, Anthony J. Tromba
1:06 PM
Anonymous said…
For mathematics, I would recommend Arthur Benjamin's Joy of Mathematics lectures from The Teaching Company.

I picked up a copy last month and am really enjoying these lectures.
2:39 AM
Anonymous said…
I failed calculus II forty years ago! After "taking" Professor Starbird's Teaching Company calculus course, my son doesn't think I'm an idiot - at least not math-wise.
10:58 PM
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