Catalog Search Results
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Logic is intellectual self-defense against such assaults on reason and also a method of quality control for checking the validity of your own views. But beyond these very practical benefits, informal logic—the kind we apply in daily life—is the gateway to an elegant and fascinating branch of philosophy known as formal logic, which is philosophy’s equivalent to calculus. Formal logic is a breathtakingly versatile tool. Much like a Swiss army...
Publisher
The Great Courses
Language
English
Description
We commonly define the Pythagorean theorem using the formula a2 + b2 = c2. But Pythagoras himself would have been confused by that. Explore how this famous theorem can be explained using common geometric shapes (no fancy algebra required), and how it’s a critical foundation for the rest of geometry.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Word problems. Does that phrase strike fear into your heart? Relax with Professor Tanton's tips on cutting through the confusing details about groups and objects, particularly when ratios and proportions are involved. Your handy visual devices include blocks, paper strips, and poker chips.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Professor Sellers introduces the general topics and themes for the course, describing his approach and recommending a strategy for making the best use of the lessons and supplementary workbook. Warm up with some simple problems that demonstrate signed numbers and operations.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
A number is prime if it is evenly divisible by only itself and one: for example, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11. Professor Benjamin proves that there are an infinite number of primes and shows how they are the building blocks of our number system.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Geometry and trigonometry are used to determine the areas of simple figures such as triangles and circles. But how are more complex shapes measured? Calculus comes to the rescue with a technique calledintegration, which adds the simple areas of many tiny quantities.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Define what it means for polygons to be "similar"or "congruent"by thinking about photocopies. Then use that to prove the third key assumption of geometry—the side-angle-side postulate—which lets you verify when triangles are similar. Thales of Ionia used this principle in 600 B.C.E. to impress the Egyptians by calculating the height of the pyramids.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Throw away the quadratic formula you learned in algebra class. Instead, use the power of symmetry to graph quadratic functions with surprising ease. Try a succession of increasingly scary-looking quadratic problems. Then see something totally magical not to be found in textbooks.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Randomly pick a real number between 0 and 1. What is the probability that the number is a fraction, such as ¼? Would you believe that the probability is zero? Probe this and other mind-bending facts about infinite sets, including the discovery that made Cantor exclaim, "I see it, but I don't believe it!"
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
One sheet of paper lying directly atop another has all its points aligned with the bottom sheet. But what if the top sheet is crumpled? Do any of its points still lie directly over the corresponding point on the bottom sheet? See a marvelous visual proof of this fixed-point theorem.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Probe the computational miracle of place value--where a digit's position in a number determines its value. Use this powerful idea to create a dots-and-boxes machine capable of performing any arithmetical operation in any base system--including decimal, binary, ternary, and even fractional bases.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Close the course by asking the big questions about puzzles and paradoxes: Why are we so obsessed with them? Why do we relish the mental dismay that comes from contemplating a paradox? Why do we expend so much effort trying to solve conundrums and riddles? Professor Kung shows that there's method to this madness!
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Step into fully modeling the relationship between data with the most common technique for this purpose: linear regression. Using R and data on the growth of wheat under differing amounts of rainfall, test different models against criteria for determining their validity. Cover common pitfalls when fitting a linear model to data.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Dip into R, which is a popular open-source programming language for use in statistics and data science. Consider the advantages of R over spreadsheets. Walk through the installation of R, installation of a companion IDE (integrated development environment) RStudio, and how to download specialized data packages from within RStudio.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
You’ve seen geometric tiling patterns on your bathroom floor and in the works of great artists. But what would happen if you made repeating patterns in 3-D space? In this lecture, discover the five platonic solids! Also, become an artist and create your own beautiful patterns—even using more than one type of shape.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Anytime you see a root symbol - for example, the symbol for a square root - then you're dealing with what mathematicians call a radical. Learn how to simplify radical expressions and perform operations on them, such as multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction, as well as combinations of these operations.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
In previous lessons, you moved from linear, quadratic, and rational functions to the graphs that display them. Now do the same with radical functions. For these, it's important to pay attention to the domain of the functions to ensure that negative values are not introduced beneath the root symbol.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
When one polynomial is divided by another, the result is called a rational function because it is the ratio of two polynomials. These functions play an important role in algebra. Learn how to add and subtract rational functions by first finding their common divisor.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Prove that some sets can't be measured - a result that is crucial to understanding the Banach-Tarski paradox, the strangest theorem in all of mathematics, which is presented in Lecture 23. Start by asking why mathematicians want to measure sets. Then learn how to construct a non-measurable set.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Quadratic functions often arise in real-world settings. Explore a number of problems, including calculating the maximum height of a rocket and determining how long an object dropped from a tree takes to reach the ground. Learn that in finding a solution, graphing can often help.
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