This is a series of presentations I have developed for school kids.
I do them for free upon request. I have politely declined to have them
recorded in the past, because I find watching a video of this kind of thing
absolutely stultifying. It needs to be live, especially since there is
so much interaction and hands-on stuff. And since I'll do it on demand,
there should be no need to video it anyway.
I put the copyright notice on them, but feel free to use the material, just not
for profit. I'd be interested and flattered to hear any comments, especially
feedback from your own audiences. All the material used in the talks can
be obtained for free or very cheaply from ebay (or garage sales, your local
dump, your attic, etc.).
The Science of 3D - Why Does It Pop Out Like That?
: In this hands-on course, we will explore the phenomenon of 3D, the
"pop-out" effect of 3D movies, ViewMasters, and the like. We will see
examples of many different ways this effect has been achieved since
its discovery, and talk about (and see, and touch) related
technologies.
Sounds, Waves, and Electricity:
What is sound made of? How do things work that make sound? We will
explore this, as well as a lot of related questions in this fun,
hands-on course. Fifth graders could understand everything here, but I
guarantee high school seniors will learn something they didn't already
know!
Complex Numbers: Math That Will Freak You Out (at least a little bit)
: I promise this math will freak you out at least a bit. We will explore
the existence or non-existence of nonsensical things called complex
numbers, or less scarily, imaginary numbers (aren't they all?). We
will end up deep, deep inside a certain blob called the Mandelbrot
set, which is made of these "imaginary" numbers.
Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness
: What is a mind, and why is it so special? Is it special? How could it
possibly work? Won't brain science, psychology and/or cognitive
science answer any questions anyway? What do we need philosophy for?
Do I have to wear a toga? No to that last one, but for the rest, sign
up for this class. A brief history, and a primer on the current
debates in this contentious field.
Programming For A Living: What They Don't Teach You In School:
I've been doing this for a long time, and there is a lot
more to doing it happily and well than clever coding. This class
will cover a lot of issues that pertain to any white collar/corporate
job, then delve into some of the challenges particular to doing
software engineering for a company. "Dilbert" gets some things right
and some things wrong.
What Is A Computer?:
You may know how to program, but what is a computer such that it
needs programming? Everyone knows that computers "think" in
1's and 0's, but why, and what does this even mean? Poets welcome!
A Tour Of Math For People Who Don't Like Math
Hoppping, skipping, and jumping through a bunch of areas of math,
many of which you might sort of remember, this presentation aims
to reintroduce math itself as intuitive and creative. I will use
one seemingly simple but freaky formula as an anchor and a jumping-off point.