[HN Gopher] Tell HN: I am doing online reading sessions on analy...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Tell HN: I am doing online reading sessions on analytic number
       theory
        
       Author : susam
       Score  : 95 points
       Date   : 2021-03-06 10:14 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (spxy.github.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (spxy.github.io)
        
       | vector_spaces wrote:
       | This is nice to see.
       | 
       | I'm always surprised how the overwhelming majority of pure math
       | people I meet online are solidly on the algebra or logic side of
       | things. Don't get me wrong, algebra is cool, but where's all the
       | love for analysis & PDEs?
        
         | jgodbout wrote:
         | It's still number theory though.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | superbcarrot wrote:
         | > but where's all the love for analysis & PDEs?
         | 
         | That would be getting too close to stuff that's actually
         | useful.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | vmilner wrote:
       | The UK Open University (distance learning) uses Apostol heavily
       | in its MSc Maths course.
       | 
       | I've put a post about this in their private forum, so you may
       | pick up some interest from there.
        
         | billfruit wrote:
         | Do they still use Brennan for Geometry? Assuming they still do
         | Geometry, but frankly it is a very informative book.
        
           | vmilner wrote:
           | I haven't encountered it in the MSc - but they may use it
           | (Brannan) at undergrad level.
        
       | guuggye wrote:
       | Will these sessions be recorded? For the cases where someone is
       | unable to attend or wants to refer back to a prior discussion?
        
         | shashank wrote:
         | From the website FAQs:
         | 
         | Will these sessions be recorded?
         | 
         | Not at this time because we often refer to a few pages of the
         | book via screen sharing during the meeting session. I don't
         | know the copyright implications of recording such videos and
         | sharing them with everyone online. If you have expertise in
         | this area, I would like to know if my concern is genuine and if
         | there is a way to resolve it.
        
       | butterthebuddha wrote:
       | Do you mind posting brief notes indicating how far the reading
       | group has progressed after each meeting?
       | 
       | Thanks for taking the initiative to host this.
        
       | bflies wrote:
       | What is an online reading session? Like a mother reading a
       | children book to her kids?
        
         | 867-5309 wrote:
         | if the mother is _reading_ Number Theory at post-grad level and
         | the child is any randomer on the internet, then yes, something
         | like that
        
           | tzs wrote:
           | The book they are reading, Apostol's "Introduction to
           | Analytic Number Theory", is for undergraduates.
           | 
           | According to the preface, even that is overstating it:
           | "Actually, a great deal of the book requires no calculus at
           | all and could profitably be studied by sophisticated high
           | school students".
           | 
           | Nevertheless, when I picked up a copy near the start of my
           | freshman year at Caltech and had a go at it, it kicked my
           | ass.
        
             | hardlianotion wrote:
             | Yes - looking at the reading requirements of textbooks is
             | often cause for wry amusement.
        
             | bawolff wrote:
             | > According to the preface, even that is overstating it:
             | "Actually, a great deal of the book requires no calculus at
             | all and could profitably be studied by sophisticated high
             | school students".
             | 
             | I'm pretty sure the harder the math book the more they
             | claim a sophisticated high school student could study it.
        
         | RiderOfGiraffes wrote:
         | It's where people get together to have a discussion around a
         | set piece of reading. In this case the reading is of a
         | textbook, and the discussion is intended to help everyone
         | understand the material.
        
       | DubaiMath wrote:
       | Seriously stop all your upvoting bots to get yourself to the
       | front page on many of your posts. You are a shit programmer, a
       | waste of space and create poor quality misleading content
        
       | testing_1_2_3_4 wrote:
       | Man, I'd really like to join this, but not gonna stay up til 2am
       | for it...
        
         | susam wrote:
         | There are some meetings scheduled at 18:00 UTC (10:00 PST) too.
        
       | mvh wrote:
       | PSA: we often hold similar events at bstn.cc, in CS and math.
        
       | mebassett wrote:
       | I think this is brilliant. Anyone wanna do one on Class Field
       | Theory following Childress?
        
         | hardlianotion wrote:
         | I admire your optimism!
        
         | ky3 wrote:
         | I'm game. Email's in the profile. Aside from HN, do you have
         | other plans on gathering up the numbers?
        
       | spidersouris wrote:
       | Not a mathematics whizz at all so I probably won't understand
       | anything, but I love the concept! I know some people also do
       | online reading sessions on Twitch, but I feel like it's still
       | quite a niche environment. I wish it'd expand more; I see a lot
       | of potential in it.
        
       | pfortuny wrote:
       | Would be good to know who you are.
        
         | susam wrote:
         | Thank you for the feedback. I realize it is important to
         | introduce myself when sending out an invitation to join a book
         | club like this, so I have added an FAQ section at
         | https://spxy.github.io/bc/#faq where I introduce myself. I took
         | the liberty to be elaborate there because I am not well known
         | outside of a few very small communities.
         | 
         | By the way, I briefly talked about this yesterday at
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26355752 where I mentioned
         | how a small tech support channel evolved into a computer
         | science and mathematics literature club. The parent story of
         | that thread inspired me to make this post today.
         | 
         | To all supporters on HN, thank you for the bringing this post
         | to the front page. I honestly did not expect this to come to
         | the front page. At most, I expected a few people to notice it
         | at /newest and join the book club. However, since I created
         | this post, about 25 new members have joined which is great!
        
           | pfortuny wrote:
           | Wow! That is a lot of info. Thanks for taking the time!
        
           | wjnc wrote:
           | Thank you. The contents are far out of my depth but there is
           | a general optimism that comes through while reading on your
           | site and thinking of what your are bringing to the world. I
           | hope that this trend of microcosms to find likewise
           | intellectually interested individuals continues!
           | 
           | Recently I spoke to an about 80 year old scholar of Hegel and
           | he still hosts book clubs for former students to his (and I
           | presume his students ;) delight. Suppose that would be the
           | way of the future. A club for any of your delights.
        
         | RiderOfGiraffes wrote:
         | Following a couple of links gives this:
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/susam
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-03-06 23:01 UTC)