[HN Gopher] He made linear algebra fun
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       He made linear algebra fun
        
       Author : bikenaga
       Score  : 127 points
       Date   : 2023-06-02 17:23 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (news.mit.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (news.mit.edu)
        
       | the__alchemist wrote:
       | This dude taught the Lin alg courses that went on MitX. Super
       | good!
        
       | sgift wrote:
       | That brings me back. Strang probably saved my computer science
       | degree. That professor I had in linear algebra and me really
       | couldn't communicate and without Strangs lectures (to his credit,
       | my professor recommended them) I wouldn't have stood a chance.
       | 
       | Thanks, professor. And enjoy your well-earned retirement.
        
         | strikelaserclaw wrote:
         | i aced linear algebra even though i didn't attend many classes
         | because i always watched strang's lectures.
        
           | marginalia_nu wrote:
           | I aced lin algebra because I realized early the potential and
           | ran home after every lecture and worked on a 3d engine
           | incorporating most concepts.
        
       | omgmajk wrote:
       | I just watched that video in the article of his last lecture and
       | it was indeed fun!
        
       | bluenose69 wrote:
       | I really appreciated the sentence following the title, because I
       | was thinking this would be an obituary. And, to make things
       | better, there's an informative and very sweet video interview
       | with him at the end of the article. Even in that, he takes a
       | didactic approach, teaching other teachers how to teach.
       | 
       | Whether one likes or dislikes mathematics, it's hard to argue
       | that he was anything but captivating in the classroom.
        
       | bkartal wrote:
       | Gil needs to be remembered as one of the key people that helped
       | AI developments behind the scenes by having students master
       | linear algebra! I hope you enjoy your retirement in health and
       | peace!
        
       | fnordpiglet wrote:
       | Never took his courses but used his book. My linear algebra
       | teacher was awesome. The two changed my life.
        
       | infocollector wrote:
       | He is a legend in linear algebra, and probably will be for a long
       | time. His video lectures have proven invaluable, benefiting
       | millions.
        
       | levzettelin wrote:
       | If math it fun, you're doing it wrong.
        
         | l33t233372 wrote:
         | As someone with graduate level math experience and many friends
         | in mathematics grad school, I know what you mean, but it
         | definitely depends on your idea of fun.
         | 
         | You have to enjoy bashing your head against a problem for a
         | dozen hours. Or to be more precise, you have to enjoy the
         | feeling of solving such a hard problem sufficiently much to
         | find math fun.
        
         | Errancer wrote:
         | what? i feel like it is completely opposite; per the "A
         | Mathematician's Lament" essay
        
         | kiechu wrote:
         | The same with spelling.
        
       | PartiallyTyped wrote:
       | MIT's profs Strang and the late professor Winston have positively
       | changed my life. I knew it was him from the title and was worried
       | he ... yeah.
        
       | imbusy111 wrote:
       | I remember watching his lectures 17 years ago online when I was a
       | teenager. That was the first online course I've done and it was
       | on MIT OpenCourseWare.
       | 
       | Then, when I was actually getting a math degree years later in
       | Manchester, UK, I got the highest score on the linear algebra
       | exam out of all the classes I did. I doubt I would have done so
       | well without Strang.
        
       | beyonddream wrote:
       | I have listened to his lectures but found it hard to follow his
       | train of thoughts and pace and I am sure I am in the minority :).
       | What worked somewhat is listening to 2x speed.
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | 51 more comments here
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36038635
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Thanks! Macroexpanded:
         | 
         |  _Students give Gilbert Strang a standing ovation after his
         | last lecture_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36038635 -
         | May 2023 (51 comments)
         | 
         |  _A thank you to Gilbert Strang, retiring after his 61-year
         | long teaching career_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35981340 - May 2023 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _Gilbert Strang 's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35921538 - May 2023 (56
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Gilbert Strang Teaches Linear Algebra_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22382337 - Feb 2020 (91
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Gilbert Strang 's New Course on Linear Algebra+ for ML Now
         | Online_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19939030 - May
         | 2019 (23 comments)
         | 
         |  _Matrix Methods in Data Analysis, Signal Processing, and
         | Machine Learning_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19933274 - May 2019 (21
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Strang 's "Linear Algebra and Learning from Data" is printed
         | and available_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18862719
         | - Jan 2019 (22 comments)
         | 
         |  _A conversation with Gilbert Strang [video]_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18048316 - Sept 2018 (19
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Too Much Calculus - Gilbert Strang (2001) [pdf]_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9189553 - March 2015 (134
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _Calculus by Gilbert Strang_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=343332 - Oct 2008 (3
         | comments)
        
       | kiechu wrote:
       | Strang course is available on YT as part of MIT OCW. Amazing
       | lecturer.
        
       | linster wrote:
       | I know this article is about Strang from the context of his
       | retirement a few weeks ago, but the title is clickbait.
        
         | b33j0r wrote:
         | Given other trending headlines, I thought he'd died. The past
         | tense thing.
        
         | mb7733 wrote:
         | I guessed this was about Strang just from the title! I hadn't
         | heard about his retirement.
        
           | stavros wrote:
           | I saw the title, and thought "the only person I can think of
           | that this applies to is Gilbert Strang". Imagine my surprise
           | when it was actually him, when I haven't thought of him or
           | linear algebra for fifteen years.
        
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