I've watched a bunch of Kickstarter videos the past few days for various projects, and I think their model is fantastic.
I think the idea of a Punk Math book is pretty interesting, but honestly, I think he should do a lecture series (I think his personality would really come across better in that medium). He seems like a sort of Bill Nye for mathematics.
Exactly! Maybe he and Salman Khan should get together and do something.
This could be a great candidate for a multimedia textbook... 10-minute videos + notes + interactive proofs?
Virtually nobody knows what "math" actually is before college. Even in college I suspect the number is still low. If nothing else his project has the potential to fix that.
Prayer is also a framework for solving problems, albeit less useful in the general case. The description is not sufficient.
Personally, I'm quite influenced by Pi's "Mathematics is the language of nature", though the sentiment dates at least to Galileo. For those of us who believe that alien intelligence must BY DEFINITION have recognizable mathematics (because we have no other way to recognize intelligence), this points to that universal quality, and also hints at the improbable success of mathematics in describing and predicting the physical universe.
I'd be interested if he had given me a reading from the book. I don't understand exactly what he's selling me - a cool version of a Dummies book, perhaps?
What I love about it—his main point—is his conjecture that it's not a far step from the "challenge everything" mentality of the original punk movement to "challenge everything" mentality that the brightest kids engage math with. Just apply some rigorous thinking.
It's a different way to approach math, directed to an audience that typically doesn't do a whole lot of it.
Kickstarter is starting to look like an excellent pre-sales engine. Look at all the money he's already "raised" without even a product. Just a nicely edited video pitch, and he's off to the races!
[+] [-] m0nastic|15 years ago|reply
I think the idea of a Punk Math book is pretty interesting, but honestly, I think he should do a lecture series (I think his personality would really come across better in that medium). He seems like a sort of Bill Nye for mathematics.
[+] [-] sz|15 years ago|reply
This could be a great candidate for a multimedia textbook... 10-minute videos + notes + interactive proofs?
Virtually nobody knows what "math" actually is before college. Even in college I suspect the number is still low. If nothing else his project has the potential to fix that.
[+] [-] tommynazareth|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mitko|15 years ago|reply
I've never heard a better concise (one-sentence) description of what mathematics is.
[+] [-] samatman|15 years ago|reply
Personally, I'm quite influenced by Pi's "Mathematics is the language of nature", though the sentiment dates at least to Galileo. For those of us who believe that alien intelligence must BY DEFINITION have recognizable mathematics (because we have no other way to recognize intelligence), this points to that universal quality, and also hints at the improbable success of mathematics in describing and predicting the physical universe.
[+] [-] DaemonXI|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sz|15 years ago|reply
What I love about it—his main point—is his conjecture that it's not a far step from the "challenge everything" mentality of the original punk movement to "challenge everything" mentality that the brightest kids engage math with. Just apply some rigorous thinking.
It's a different way to approach math, directed to an audience that typically doesn't do a whole lot of it.
[+] [-] coryl|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joe_the_user|15 years ago|reply
Math is pretty DIY since you don't need many resources.
'course by the folks from that era are scattered to the wind, as is normal for such scenes...
[+] [-] whackedspinach|15 years ago|reply