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How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

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Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#11

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

hliyan wrote: post #2

> which makes for a total of more than 1700 pages of notes That's an absolutely incredible feat, especially considering that the notes look pretty much textbook-quality! Although personally, I have never been able to both absorb a lecture and take electronic notes. If I need comprehension, my notes have always had to be pen-and-paper. Once again, this is an incredible feat.

> If I need comprehension, my notes have always had to be pen-and-paper.

I agree. However, if I want to be able to refer to them afterwards, I really need to take electronic notes.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#12

Post by _ux1n »

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #7

As a feat in itself this is definitely very impressive, but I wonder if it's really worth anyone's time to spend precious lecture time with your mind fully occupied in the mechanical task of taking notes rather than actually absorbing and engaging with the content. Especially for an extremely content-dense subject like Mathematics, where you need all your concentration just to process what you are reading and follow…

Glad to see this at the top, agree 100%. I’m definitely going to copy some of OP’s setting and snippets, but not for real time use during a lecture.

A textbook is an infinitely better reference than any notes one could take in class. Read the damn book. Lecture time should be for asking questions when you have a freaking live expert professor literally presenting the material to you. Ask all the small, nuanced questions that you can think of in the moment, which you can’t find answers to easily online or in the book.

Not to downplay the efficient workflow here, but there is zero chance that this person’s notes are actually better than a real textbook.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#13

Post by twiceaday »

I did the same thing when I was in uni. Couple of my profs asked for my notes so they can make class notes for next year. I also did all of my math assignments this way and it was so easy copying stuff from the notes and working with it without erasing and compromising on space. I could break down every algebraic step for maximum clarity.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#14

Post by jclay »

I used to do this, but I switched to just using a Jupyter Notebook. It’s nice to be able to move between multiple computers, with no need to set up a LaTeX install.

A couple of things I love about this setup:

I can write in Markdown and drop to LaTeX when I need to forumalate any equations.

For homework, I can implement a quick Python script inline to build intuition behind a topic.

I can use Sympy to simplify and solve for more complex derivations. This outputs LaTeX which I can paste into the requisite Markdown cell.

With Plotly, I can quickly create a nice 2D or 3D visualization.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#15

Post by yaseer »

This is impressive.

There is no way I would be able to take these notes, live, and learn the mathematics simultaneously. So this approach wouldn't be a good idea for me, and perhaps most people.

But if you're able to do that, then it's doubly impressive.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#16

Post by cycrutchfield »

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #7

As a feat in itself this is definitely very impressive, but I wonder if it's really worth anyone's time to spend precious lecture time with your mind fully occupied in the mechanical task of taking notes rather than actually absorbing and engaging with the content. Especially for an extremely content-dense subject like Mathematics, where you need all your concentration just to process what you are reading and follow…

Not everybody learns in the same way. For myself, I get essentially nothing out of just sitting in a lecture hall listening to a professor drone on. It literally just goes in one ear and out the other. The only way I am able to learn is by reading and by working through the material on my own, either from notes taken in class or (preferably) a textbook.

So I can appreciate what OP has done here. I took notes in LaTeX for most of my undergraduate math courses (and some graduate ones), and I found it to be a fairly valuable exercise.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#18

Post by roel_v »

_ux1n wrote: post #12
kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #7

As a feat in itself this is definitely very impressive, but I wonder if it's really worth anyone's time to spend precious lecture time with your mind fully occupied in the mechanical task of taking notes rather than actually absorbing and engaging with the content. Especially for an extremely content-dense subject like Mathematics, where you need all your concentration just to process what you are reading and follow…

Glad to see this at the top, agree 100%. I’m definitely going to copy some of OP’s setting and snippets, but not for real time use during a lecture. A textbook is an infinitely better reference than any notes one could take in class. Read the damn book. Lecture time should be for asking questions when you have a freaking live expert professor literally presenting the material to you. Ask all the small, nuanced questi…

That's fine amd dandy from a US perspective, but many European universities are different. I don't know about this guy's exact class, but some (many?) undergrad classes are 500 people in a lecture hall with the professor orating, no textbook, and the content on the exam is pretty much whatever was covered during the lectures. So accurate note taking is very important because those notes essentially are your textbook. Hence the small business of students assembling high quality lecture notes and selling them to people who have't been to class (much).

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#19

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

roel_v wrote: post #18
_ux1n wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to see this at the top, agree 100%. I’m definitely going to copy some of OP’s setting and snippets, but not for real time use during a lecture. A textbook is an infinitely better reference than any notes one could take in class. Read the damn book. Lecture time should be for asking questions when you have a freaking live expert professor literally presenting the material to you. Ask all the small, nuanced questi…

That's fine amd dandy from a US perspective, but many European universities are different. I don't know about this guy's exact class, but some (many?) undergrad classes are 500 people in a lecture hall with the professor orating, no textbook, and the content on the exam is pretty much whatever was covered during the lectures. So accurate note taking is very important because those notes essentially are your textbook.…

At that point smuggling an audio recorder to the class might lead a better reproduction of the material.

Re: How I'm able to take notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim

#20

Post by justwalt »

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #7

As a feat in itself this is definitely very impressive, but I wonder if it's really worth anyone's time to spend precious lecture time with your mind fully occupied in the mechanical task of taking notes rather than actually absorbing and engaging with the content. Especially for an extremely content-dense subject like Mathematics, where you need all your concentration just to process what you are reading and follow…

I did this in a Biochemistry course minus the Vim. It is definitely counterproductive and I started to do better once I switched back to traditional notes.
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