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Summer of 1980, going into my senior year in high school, I mentioned I'd be taking Calculus next year to a co-worker a couple years older than I. He said he h
by kjhughes 10y ago
Summer of 1980, going into my senior year in high school, I mentioned I'd be taking Calculus next year to a co-worker a couple years older than I. He said he had the best book in the world on Calculus, and he loaned me his copy of Silvanus P Thompson's Calculus made easy. I thoroughly enjoyed that book, benefited from its intuitive explanations, and forever appreciated his recommendation.
If I may similarly influence anyone here, for themselves or someone they know, to read Calculus made easy to supplement their calculus coursework, I will be happy to have paid the favor forward in some small way.
By the way, Kalid Azad may be our modern day Silvanus P Thompson. And he has better tools[1], which he wields masterfully, than just pen and paper. Recommended too.
[1] https://betterexplained.com/ https://betterexplained.com/
- jacquesm 10y agoBetterexplained is right up there with the Khan Academy and Wikipedia. Between those three there aren't many subjects you can't improve your knowledge on from your livingroom. tx kjhughes
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- kalid 10y agoMuch appreciated, thank you.
- zdean 10y agoWould you happen to know of any websites, video series, books, etc that would be in the same vein as these 2 sources but geared towards very young students (elementary/middle school math)? ...so that they can understand it conceptually from a young start. EDIT: I'm working through Khan Academy with one of my kids...would like to find other resources as well.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- d-sc 10y agoKeep up with teaching your kids. I took calculus in 8th grade and having it as a base understanding has been invaluable in surviving college engineering.
- kjhughes 10y agoHmm, how about a technique rather than a resource... Look for opportunities to expand what they're doing in school. For example, after my kids had covered place values in school, I taught them binary. Their knowledge of base 10 is so much more robust when they learn base 2 as well. Point is, I bet you already know plenty to be that ideal resource you seek for them. Good for you for wanting to start early.
- zdean 10y agoThanks for that affirmation. I actually taught them binary counting too over a weekend a few months back...I was amazed how quickly they were able to pick up on it (3rd and 5th graders). With limited time/energy, I was hoping to find some great resources to add to what I can provide them individually.
- kalid 10y agoThanks so much for the kind words. I vividly remember cramming for a test my freshman year of college, not having things click, and the final Aha! when a semester of pain disappeared with a few visualizations. The contrast between how most classes presented the material and what actually worked for me was jarring, and I had to share what helped. I hope other people share what works for them, in any format they can.
- dermybaby 10y agoConcur - Kalid approaches things through first principles and teaches the 'how' very well. The ideas and approaches can be translated into almost anything else. I hope he keeps on keeping on.