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A fellow book club host here! I too have run two book clubs over Jitsi and IRC. The first one was for Introduction to Analytic Number Theory (Apostol, 1976) a

by susam 2y ago

A fellow book club host here! I too have run two book clubs over Jitsi and IRC. The first one was for Introduction to Analytic Number Theory (Apostol, 1976) and the second one was for Mastering Emacs (Petersen, 2022). Here are the meeting logs and some statistics: https://susam.net/cc/log.html https://susam.net/cc/log.html Here are some posts and content pertaining to these book clubs: https://susam.net/tag/meetup.html https://susam.net/tag/meetup.html Quite similar to the original post (OP), we also had about 5-8 regular participants in our meetups. However, ours were virtual rather than in-person. Given that the author of the OP mentions 5-8 consistent attendees at in-person meetups, it's quite impressive!

tux3 2y ago
That number theory book looks like something I'd really enjoy reading. I assume you must have enjoyed the experience, but I'm curious how easy it is for everyone to move at the same pace on such a technical topic, where everyone might have a different background? Do you feel like the pace is ever an issue with technical book clubs, or is it actually just fine?
- susam 2y ago
  Most members of the analytic number theory book club were computer programmers in one form or another. A few among them had very strong background in mathematics, especially in elementary number theory and complex analysis. But nobody had any prior knowledge of analytic number theory. The pace was not an issue for me because we used to go really slow. We read every line of the book together, ensuring we understood each argument before moving to the next one. As the meeting host, I came prepared for the meetings and spent a lot of time illustrating proofs with additional details, perspectives, and examples (see https://offbeat.cc/iant/boards/ https://offbeat.cc/iant/boards/ for notes). This approach suited me well, as I need time to digest new mathematical concepts and form intuition around them. I hope it worked for others, but we didn't survey participants, so I can't say for sure. Sometimes we picked some exercise problems, solved them, and walked through the solutions during the meetings. But most exercises were done offline by the participants in their own time. I have written a lot more about the learning experience here: https://susam.net/one-hundred-meetings.html https://susam.net/one-hundred-meetings.html
laweijfmvo 2y ago
A book club for Introduction to Analytic Number Theory and How to Use Emacs. I guess I'm not as nerdy as I once thought!
- deleted 2y ago
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by susam 2y ago

tux3 2y ago

That number theory book looks like something I'd really enjoy reading. I assume you must have enjoyed the experience, but I'm curious how easy it is for everyone to move at the same pace on such a technical topic, where everyone might have a different background? Do you feel like the pace is ever an issue with technical book clubs, or is it actually just fine?

susam 2y ago
Most members of the analytic number theory book club were computer programmers in one form or another. A few among them had very strong background in mathematics, especially in elementary number theory and complex analysis. But nobody had any prior knowledge of analytic number theory. The pace was not an issue for me because we used to go really slow. We read every line of the book together, ensuring we understood each argument before moving to the next one. As the meeting host, I came prepared for the meetings and spent a lot of time illustrating proofs with additional details, perspectives, and examples (see https://offbeat.cc/iant/boards/ https://offbeat.cc/iant/boards/ for notes). This approach suited me well, as I need time to digest new mathematical concepts and form intuition around them. I hope it worked for others, but we didn't survey participants, so I can't say for sure. Sometimes we picked some exercise problems, solved them, and walked through the solutions during the meetings. But most exercises were done offline by the participants in their own time. I have written a lot more about the learning experience here: https://susam.net/one-hundred-meetings.html https://susam.net/one-hundred-meetings.html

laweijfmvo 2y ago

A book club for Introduction to Analytic Number Theory and How to Use Emacs. I guess I'm not as nerdy as I once thought!

deleted 2y ago
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