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Offer HN: Free Maths Lessons
90 points by dataduck on July 28, 2011 | hide | past | favorite | 46 comments
Hi all,

Would anybody like a free, eight-week course of maths (or related fields: see below) lessons?

About me: I've been tutoring up to A-level mathematics and physics for about 10 years now. I would have thought of trying to teach maths to HN as teaching grandma to suck eggs, but this comment thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2737510) led me to believe there are at least a few HNers who don't have calculus etc. as part of their toolbox, and Steve’s flamboyant OSCON talk (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2811818) got me thinking there might be quite a few who would like it. FWIW, I've a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's in machine learning.

What you get: Eight one-to-one hour-long lessons on any mathematical subject(s) of your choosing.

Who qualifies: Exactly one person who wants to, based on the following criteria:

1) You ask for something I can actually teach you. I've a lot of experience teaching maths and physics up to A-level standard (see the UK bit in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Further_Mathematics), and I know some linear/vector/matrix algebra, more advanced differential equations, some machine learning and statistics well enough to teach with some brushing up. I'm slightly more likely to pick someone who wants something I can teach really well rather than something I can just about teach. You can ask for anything, though; bonus points for asking for something I didn’t know people wanted.

2) You can be available at a regular time each week which I can accommodate, ideally sometime between 9:00 and 13:00 BST (8:00-12:00 GMT) on a weekday from late August

3) You provide a compelling case of how this will help you, particularly if it would be hard to get this kind of help elsewhere. I.e. you may find some mathematics useful to your coding / business / love life; you know why better than me.

Again, apologies if slightly better than high-school maths seems like a trivial thing to arrogantly parade in front of the extremely smart and well-educated people at HN, it just occurred to me there might be a few people who might want it.

(EDIT FOR CLARITY) TL;DR: Free online lessons! Apply in this thread.




Clickables:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2737510

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2811818

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Further_Mathematics

========

ADDED IN EDIT: WTF - I got a downvote for this?!?

From http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

    Resist complaining about being downmodded.
    It never does any good, and it makes boring
    reading.
(breathe deeply - calm - don't complain - does no good - breathe deeply - screw 'em - don't bother making life easy for people who follow - don't cross-reference - don't point to previous discussions - don't try to help - just, don't bother - not worth it - go to a calm place and chill)

========

FURTHER EDIT: Now had more upvotes - thanks. I must remember that HN has a wide-range of participants, and that while many may appreciate the cross-referencing, etc, some don't. If they get there first, you get a downvote.

I still don't understand why the downvote though. There's been a long tradition on HN of adding the clickables. Maybe someone is new and doesn't know that, maybe they're just quick on the trigger finger. Don't know. It just feels, unpleasant. Genuinely makes me not want to be here.


Colin, don't let the down-votes get you down... if you pardon the pun. Some people mistakenly think clickables are just karma whoring because they don't realize it is (intentionally) impossible to put clickable links into a submission. Additionally, they're also probably not thinking beyond their own use-case, where the (intentional) annoyance of copy-paste is painful on mobiles.


tl;dr - thank you.

<rant>

It's just that there are days when I get depressed by the fact that so many people on the 'net and using sites like HN have a sense of entitlement - insisting that they really understand everything and that - God Damn It - they'll impose their own way of working and thinking and voting, without taking the time to become enculturated.

At least, that's how it feels. I just need to take another break. I'm finding that my breaks from HN are getting longer and longer, and then time back before I need another break are getting shorter and shorter.

It's said that a specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until eventually they know everything about nothing, whereas as generalist is someone who knows less and less about more and more until eventually they know everything about nothing.

I'm getting more and more irritated and annoyed by the actions of a small minority who just spoil my enjoyment of HN. Maybe I've just outgrown it, but I really hesitate to say that because there's always more to learn, and there are some great people here.

</rant>


I hear you, and read your HN profile missive, but this is taking us off-topic. Unfortunately, you don't have an email address listed in your profile, or I'd take it up with you off-site per se. My email address is in my profile, contact me if you want to discuss it.


Damn, just realised I made a typo there:

  ... a specialist is someone who knows more and more about
  less and less until eventually they know everything about
  nothing, whereas as generalist is someone who knows less
  and less about more and more until eventually they know
  nothing about everything.
That's what I meant to say. Sorry for any confusion.


Well, I upvoted you. Thanks for posting clickables, I'm actually not sure how (do you just put HTML tags in the text?) So, hope that cancels out.


You can't make clickable links in submissions - it would be too easy for spammers. URLs in comments automatically get linked, and there's a long tradition of adding a comment to a submission to make the URLs clickable.

From: http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

    How do I make a link in a question?

    You can't. (This is to prevent people from using this
    method as a way of submitting a link, but with their
    comments in a privileged position at the top of the
    page. If you want to submit a link with comments, just
    submit it, then add a regular comment.)
You may also wish to read the unofficial FAQ by the erstwhile jacquesm:

http://jacquesmattheij.com/The+Unofficial+HN+FAQ


Thanks again.


NP. You might want to put contact details in your "About" field in your profile. The "email" field isn't visible to the world, only to HN admins.


If you feel you've been unfairly downvoted, give it time. The rest of the community usually balances it out.


Please add this comment on the guidelines.


There's an upvote. Perhaps it was seen as karma-whoring or unhelpful; personally I think it's great when someone puts in a helpful set of clickables, thanks!


On behalf of all of HN, thank you for the kind and generous offer of your time and expertise. Though a lot of people excel at learning on their own, many human beings are trained to learn better through courses. The examples, direction and structure provided can really help.

I never bothered to take calculus in school (distant decades ago), and never bothered to seriously study on my own (e.g. dedicated learning working through an entire book), but I have managed to learn various, incomplete chunks of it. In short, I just learned the parts I needed to know at various times to do something, and admittedly, I've probably forgot most of them. It's somewhat unfortunate to publicly admit only remembering random, disjointed chunks of calculus (and also lambda calculus for that matter), but I'm certain I'm not alone.

Being that you've worked as a math and physics tutor for a decade, you've most likely seen quite a number of calculus texts being used in courses and possess an extremely valuable opinion on the merit of various tomes. You're possibly even familiar with on-line courses such as MIT Open Courseware and similar.

Since there's no way you'll be able to tutor everyone, would you provide your opinions on books and courses for the self-starters?


"Calculus Made Easy" by Silvanus Thompson (updated by Martin Gardner).

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-Silvanus-Thompson/d...

(And you probably know this, but "Calculus" isn't the same as the "Lambda Calculus" - your comment makes it appear that you've confused or equated the two.)


http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33283/33283-pdf.pdf


Thanks for the suggestions, both the book and the clarity (previous post edited).


For university level physical applied mathematics, Boas: (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematical-Methods-Physical-Scienc...)

I'd also recommend Riley, Hobson and Bence, which has all the benefits and disadvantages of being bigger: (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematical-Methods-Physics-Enginee...)

For A-level, most students I've taught want me to follow their school course, so I've mostly taught out of an array of textbooks of varying quality. On the whole, the standard A-level course books for EdExcel, AQA, OCR and the like are adequate, but only really as part of a taught course. If I cast my mind back, Bostock and Chandler was quite good, although I suspect it will be a bit retro by now with respect to syllabus changes - it was old when I was learning this stuff for the first time. That said, mathematics is one of the more stable subjects and the fundamentals don't change very much, so I'd definitely recommend looking at it. Obviously, if you're not looking for something to pass an exam with, classic books become a lot more appealing.


Thank You.


Please record these sessions and upload them to YouTube, so they'll help more than just one person. Thanks for volunteering.


Thanks for the suggestion, and I share the sentiment, but I'm not going to do that. I'm happy for the student to record them and later upload them if (s)he wants to, but I don't want to commit to broadcasting because:

1) I'd rather not have the distraction of thinking "is this going on YouTube?" permeating the lesson and changing the student's (and my) responses. You'd be amazed how much harder it is to think when you suspect the entire internet may get to hear your answers.

2) Things that come up might not be interesting to other people; I take an extremely interactive approach, ideally with the student doing about half the talking.

3) Given the audience, it's possible people might want to ask me about how to apply some mathematics to their business. They may not want relevant information published.

That said, if at the end of the lessons it turns out that they might be a useful resource, and the student agrees, I'll be happy to do this.


Yes, I agree. Heck you could take popcorn.js and make a course out of it like one HN user did with his Django101.com idea. I am not available during those times on the weekday, otherwise I would certainly apply.


Thank you very much for the offer, this is something I love to do and would be ideal for me, I was a lazy teen and dropped maths after GCSE when I really shouldn't have (I droped just about everything hard, I was a very kevin and perry teen and went to a bad school). 10 years later I really regret this, I would love to understand the basics of things like analysing algorithms, encoding/encryption stuff etc. I've moved into CS relatively late and the lack of maths has caught me out when it shouldn't. I am currently finishing off a masters in Information Systems which has gone fantastically well but my maths is still lacking by miles. Networks was particularly hard when it came to understanding things like encryption.

I have watched a couple of MIT videos on introduction to Algorithms but they were a bit beyond me so I need to take a step back first. I've watched a few kahn videos but there is just so much I am not quite sure where to put my time. I have thought about taking a Maths A level course at some time when I get time but this year has been full on with other learning.

I start my first professional developers job at the end of September and being able to just do some basic big-O would be amazing. This thread is actually becoming valuable for links and recommendation to other resources I should explore.


I'm building something that makes this easy to do online, would you mind sending me an email and I could see if it helps you with scheduling and video chat + screen sharing?


first of all, thank you very much for this generous offer, it is very kind of you.

----

i am currently working in networking support (cisco stuff), but i know some python and common lisp. i am very interested in programming, compiler technology, languages (i speak 3 and currently learning 4th) and teaching (i worked as a trainer for cisco networking academy for 7 years).

i am mostly self-taught, learned english mostly from reading books/docs and listening to music/tv. i know little about many things and much about few, if any.

currently i am trying to change my job to programming because i want to gain experience in the field and ultimately get a chance to implement some of many ideas and help develop some which i would love to see advance (e.g. what sal khan is doing).

i see mathematics as a very important skill that i need to master since it is in big part connected to all of the domains i am passionate about. my current skills are pretty slacking but i do have good imagination and learn fast.

the most recent physics/math problem i have is directly connected to one particular job opportunity. i am developing a python application which does certain sound singnal analysis and will also include various software testing practices including some code analysis. this project will serve as a demonstration to my potential employer that i have mastered the skill enough to be hired. i am using khanacademy heavily for basic stuff, but most of the things are not covered there and many a time i have to rely on wikipedia solely.

if you are interested in any of the following areas i can teach you in exchange: learning a rare and unique foreign language, programming basics, networking, linux stuff. i am in a bit of a trouble with time-frame though since i am in CET zone and i don't really have flexible work hours.


>>many a time i have to rely on wikipedia solely.

As a more readable alternative, try this http://inperc.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Courses.


Honest question. Why specifically just math and not physics or machine learning since those are also things you've specialized in?


1) Much more practice at teaching maths and physics, and it's much fresher in my mind, so I reckon you'll get higher quality out of me that way.

2) I expect more demand for maths than physics

3) A lot of physics and machine learning is maths anyway; particularly with machine learning, the bit of it I'm good at is more mathematical (statistics, bayesian inference, etc). When I took my MSc, the coding exercises were always harder for me (lack of background and formal training) but some of the mathematics was stuff that I'd actually been teaching for years. I seriously doubt I can teach anyone here much about implementing, well, anything, but if you want to get a good idea of probability theory and Bayesian inference, I'm more useful.

For clarity, though: I'm offering anything you request that I also think I can fulfil. Edited original post to make it a bit clearer.


I am just about to begin a part-time open university mathematics degree (mature student) as part of a process to get over my fear of mathematics. I have a GCSE in higher mathematics but sometime between being a school kid and starting a PhD I got the fear. I messed up 2 attempts at AS level, mostly due to other priorities of being a 17 year old, I mucked up my PhD due to the fear (who would have thought robotics & vision needed maths huh?) ignoring important papers simply because they were impenetrable to my maths reading skills. I am currently spending 2 hours a night reading through GCSE, AS & A level revision guides to prepare for the start of the university course, however any additional help would obviously be superb.


I'm doing this right now - MST121 and MS221. I'm finding it a pleasant challenge without having done anything more than GCSE maths. It's finding the time to do the study that's tricky. Say hi if you've got any questions about the course - doing the revision you've mentioned sounds a great idea.


You mention that your doing both 121 & 221 at the same time. When I was reading up about the course they recommended only doing this if you had A level (or above) and could commit 16 hours per week. How does that stack up to your experience? Does the course have a good staring gradient? I spend my life coding (in the finance industry) and am un-fazed by the mathematical challenges it throws up daily but am utterly petrified of starting out on the course (maybe combined?) and being presented with a sheet of impenetrable symbols and vast amounts of expected ability, knowledge of processes, terms etc... It's the notation and vocabulary, the superior knowledge of superior men, that worries me the most.


I had that fear too (like yourself, the last time I touched mathematics was during my GCSE's and I wasn't exactly a prodigy then) and it was exactly why I did MU123 first rather than jumping into MST121 despite that fact I think I could have handled it.

I reasoned that by being thorough and starting from the beginning (i.e. the most basic module) that I was not likely to encounter any concept later on in the course that had not previously been introduced to me. Hence no ambiguity. Rather convoluted logic I know, but it worked for me.


Given that the course starts in October I thought that a good old concerted effort on revision might get me past the need for MU123 (would be nice to aim for a 6 year degree not a 7 year one) now wondering if it is an incorrect assumption... I wonder if they would let me see some past papers from MU123 to make sure I followed it all (again, the hard work is never a problem it's the fear of not even being able to read the damn question!)


So you are studying both at the same time? How do you manage that?

I'm currently working through MST121 myself, it takes a surprising amount of work (compared to you I'm obviously a slow studier as my total commitment is about 2 hours a day, luckily my commute consists of two, one hour train journeys) but I'm finding it really enjoyable, if not therapeutic, a chance to get away from the real world... sadly very much an attitude I wish had when I was younger.

I was actually so rusty I had to take MU123 initially, it was a bit mundane in parts but I was glad I did, there was so many of the basics I had forgotten.


This is a great offer! Thanks!

I would be interested in learning (1) Machine learning, (2) Godel's theorems, (3) Group theory.

While especially #1 and #3 are not hard to find elsewhere, I have found it difficult to "break into" these topics, not having formal education in mathematics and computer science. (I am fairly smart person otherwise, so believe would be able to follow the subjects, just that books and articles often make tacit assumptions about the readers, leaving a plenty of reader's questions and doubts unanswered.)

The time slot looks suitable to me. It's middle of the night, right after my kid sleeps!


Hi, I have been trying to Learn to work hands-on on Machine learning/AI algorithms(for about 4-5 years). But somehow, have stopped with reading and understanding the algorithms in the text books/blogs and stop there. Recently came across Fractals and love them. Got a Fractal Geometry(Kenneth Falconer, thanks to library.nu) book but i seem to have lost the ability to learn from books(too much interaction addictivity). Anyway, i would be glad if you can teach Fractal Geometry.(sorry, if that is outside your offer). Thanks and Regards, anand jeyahar


Yeah, I'd like to know about fractal geometry too :)

Sadly not in my field, but good luck!

To help with book learning, try adding interactivity back in, e.g. by writing a short blog post on each small topic you want to learn. This will switch on the bits of your brain that like getting stuff done, and also challenge you to understand things more fully; having to explain something to someone else really points out what you didn't know that you don't know.


Check Khan Academy. Why don't you do something similar applied for CS? :)


I'm building a simple Android 2D game on my free time which involves some maths (ball bouncing, colliding algorithms, ..), what I would really like is some refresh of Linear Algebra (Vectors, Projections, ...) and Physics that I may easily apply to the game itself. How may I contact you? I can't see any contact details on your profile.


Now fixed.


Sorry for the delay everyone, I'm currently working on a consulting project, which was going to finish mid-August, but is now potentially slipping... I'll have to confirm my exact availability before I can accept anyone. I should know by the end of the week. Anyone who's still interested, send me an email to let me know.


I mostly wanted to add some upvotes and some encouragement for other people to do this in the future. I see you've already accepted a student, so "happy mathing" to the two of you!


Can you please provide your email address? I'm sure that there are plenty of people who want to apply, but would like some privacy to state their case.


Sierra dot charlie hotel india uniform dot double-zero at G's mail service. Let me know here if that's not clear.


I would like to echo dougk7's comments regarding statistics for ML. The fundamentals of ML would be of great interest - moreso with ML becoming more en vouge.

Cheers!


Me! For statistics - I discovered its beauty after failing it once, then trying to do machine learning tasks without a solid knowedge of stats.


I've accepted a student for this offer now.




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