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3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

3blue1brown.com

31–40 of 53 posts

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#31
Could anyone recommend a calculous book with lots of exercises (and their solutions)?

3Blue1Brown videos are great, but they're more for building the initial intuition. I'm looking for something that I can practice to "get used to" calculous.

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#32
post #9

For anyone interested in the code used in his animations, the repo is here: https://github.com/3b1b/videos It's pretty impressive. A lot of work goes into these videos. My other favourite YouTube math guy is eigenchris. His tensor calculus series is legendary: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJHszsWbB6hpk5h8lSfBk... In complete contrast to 3b1b, eigenchris creates his videos entirely in PowerPoint, which makes…

3b1b uses a python library for creating those videos.

https://github.com/3b1b/manim

As far as a math educator/communicator, one of my favorite videos of his is the video on the monster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH0oCDa74tE

Also since we're talking about powerpoint here you should probably see this Matt Parker video about excel being used in ways it shouldn't maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#33
post #7

To add a different recommendation on math, Michael Penn's math channels on youtube are great. It helping me study some more advanced topics.

I've watched a number of Penn's videos and generally enjoy them but they really seem to be targeted to the math major types. I have a BS and MS in electrical engineering which did require some high level math but not to the degree needed to fully grasp what he's showing. Nothing wrong with that but people without college math study are usually going to be overwhelmed.

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#34

Could anyone recommend a calculous book with lots of exercises (and their solutions)? 3Blue1Brown videos are great, but they're more for building the initial intuition. I'm looking for something that I can practice to "get used to" calculous.

I'd like to know, too!

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#35
OT - 3b1b did an interesting video on the epidemic modeling [0] that shaped my thinking a bit on the lockdown and caused me to lose a few friends to argue against the prolonged lockdowns.

I believe he used the same technique deployed by major media institutions and health organizations.

Basically the interesting conclusion was unless you apply a very rigorous lockdown (CCP style) the virus ultimately spreads. All you’re doing is spreading the time. As in “flattening the curve”.

As some might recall the initial lockdown was proposed as a way to flatten the curve and allow the medical system to cope better by having a more gradual influx of patients. Which makes me think everyone promoting the initial lockdown understood its limitations and its objectives.

However, for what ever reason “control demolition” of the economy to make Trump lose the election or who knows why it turned into a long term lockdown.

I know this is a controversial topic, but it shouldn’t be. This is a clear case that the science of pandemic modeling suggested one path and for political reasons we were pushed to follow a course that caused a lot of damage, some irreversible, to the society.

[0] https://youtu.be/gxAaO2rsdIs?si=cNkcQ7actTnb5sez

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#36
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t have a good intuition for and understanding of the concepts, how can you know when it’s appropriate to cut corners / use various approximation techniques on messy data? Or how can you combine a bunch of techniques for real world applications without doing something nonsensical? I don’t really understand this critique.

Good point. I see what you mean and I agree that having an intuitive understanding of math concepts helps us choose the right tool for the job, but as soon as that decision is made, intuition doesn't play much role anymore. I really wanted to think that intuition (or even learning about the history of various math concepts) would be useful somehow, but every time I would end up getting lower scores than students who…

Well, I think I know what your mistake is, because I made the same mistake for a long time before I realized the error of my ways.

Intuition and deep understanding is important, and you won't go far without it. It's arguably the most important thing. But memorization / "knowing" things is important as well, and if you avoid doing that completely, you're just like a two or three legged stool. You need both, for true mastery.

I can't persuade you of this on my own, but if you ever trust something you saw on the internet without proof, hopefully this is the one thing! Haha.

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#37

Could anyone recommend a calculous book with lots of exercises (and their solutions)? 3Blue1Brown videos are great, but they're more for building the initial intuition. I'm looking for something that I can practice to "get used to" calculous.

You are looking for this!

https://youtu.be/Eqfa6MhAqcw?feature=shared

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#38

3b1b is fantastic. Another YouTuber I really like is Another Roof [1] -- the videos on Golay codes [2] using an icosahedron, and sporadic groups [3] are fantastic. There are some objects in mathematics that have pretty elementary definitions that a schoolchild can understand, but have secrets-of-the-universe level stuff behind them. [1] https://www.youtube.com/@AnotherRoof [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmx-v4Fi…

I don't think I've ever heard of Golay codes. Could you elaborate on the secrets of the universe part?

Golay codes are a set of error correcting codes.

The interesting thing is that one of the Golay codes is isomorphic to a mathematical object called S(5,8,24), which is the set of 8-element subsets of a 24-letter alphabet such that any 5 elements occur exactly once. And that this is very closely related to one of the Mathieu groups, which are finite and sporadic: exceptional objects in mathematics.

I loved the presentation of it.

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#39
post #9

For anyone interested in the code used in his animations, the repo is here: https://github.com/3b1b/videos It's pretty impressive. A lot of work goes into these videos. My other favourite YouTube math guy is eigenchris. His tensor calculus series is legendary: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJHszsWbB6hpk5h8lSfBk... In complete contrast to 3b1b, eigenchris creates his videos entirely in PowerPoint, which makes…

PowerPoint is a decent tool for creating lightweight animations.

With the right use of tools like morph transition etc. one can achieve pretty decent looking or even professional looking animations of concepts.

I have also used PowerPoint to create web application wireframes, design concepts, Logos and website graphics, icons, repeating fill patterns, arbitrary vector graphics, etc.

I guess one strong point is how easily / widely available the tool is, and therefore even if you don't have the same machine with all your design tools, or don't have admin access to install them, you can still edit your work later easily.

Re: 3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series

#40
post #32
post #9

For anyone interested in the code used in his animations, the repo is here: https://github.com/3b1b/videos It's pretty impressive. A lot of work goes into these videos. My other favourite YouTube math guy is eigenchris. His tensor calculus series is legendary: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJHszsWbB6hpk5h8lSfBk... In complete contrast to 3b1b, eigenchris creates his videos entirely in PowerPoint, which makes…

3b1b uses a python library for creating those videos. https://github.com/3b1b/manim As far as a math educator/communicator, one of my favorite videos of his is the video on the monster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH0oCDa74tE Also since we're talking about powerpoint here you should probably see this Matt Parker video about excel being used in ways it shouldn't maybe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I

> 3b1b uses a python library for creating those videos.

Which he also wrote!

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