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These sorts of videos take a lot of time to prepare and someone has gone to some trouble here. Abstract Algebra is a massive subject though, with thorough treat
by wbhart 11y ago
These sorts of videos take a lot of time to prepare and someone has gone to some trouble here. Abstract Algebra is a massive subject though, with thorough treatments running into the many hundreds of pages. So it's too much to expect to get to grips with the subject from a few short videos such as these.
Recently I've been watching Benedict Gross' Abstract Algebra lectures, to see if I can learn anything about how he presents material (he's a famous number theorist and known for his expository style).
http://wayback.archive-it.org/3671/20150528171650/https://www.extension.harvard.edu/open-learning-initiative/abstract-algebra http://wayback.archive-it.org/3671/20150528171650/https://ww...
One neat trick there is that groups are introduced via symmetric groups and via orthogonal groups, which allows a lot of geometric (visual) intuition, in a subject which is otherwise just symbolic (by definition).
What amazes me quite a lot is the total dearth of video lectures on commutative algebra online. This is taught in many undergrad courses, and there are plenty of written lecture notes online, but almost nothing when it comes to video presentation.
I think a lot of people who set out with the best intentions just give up when they find out how enormous the subject is, and how hard it is to keep errors out of presentations.
- rickhanlonii 11y agoI started thisismath.org as a naive college kid in 2011 because there weren't any good video lectures on advanced maths. I knew it was going to be difficult but I couldn't appreciate how much work would go into actually editing the videos at the quality that I wanted until I felt the true weight of the commitment. I was in over my head and after a few videos I confronted the reality that I didn't have the extra time to commit and I just trailed off. I still think there's an important need for advanced math video resources, and we should commend anyone who puts in the effort.