Should I buy The Joy of Mathematics DVD from The Great Courses?

stathmk · 2012-05-22, 21:26

I'm working on Prime95 for now. Later, I'll be working on projects for http://www.primenumbers.net/prptop/prptop.php .

I have a subscription to Discover magazine. In college, I would buy books about Computers, Math, Archeology, ancient cultures, and etc. Maybe those are reasons why I've gotten on a mailing list for a catalog that I've recieved again today. In The Great Courses there's The Joy of Mathematics DVD. This is by Professor Arthur T. Benjamin, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, and Harvey Mudd College. It's not the book with waves on the cover by a man with a Greek sounding name. It's 24 lectures of 30 minutes each: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/c....aspx?cid=1457

Lectures 1, 2, 3, 23, and 24 sound interesting to me:
#1: The Joy of Math - The Big Picture
#2: The Joy of Numbers
#3: The Joy of Primes (This caught my attention in particular)
#23: The Joy of Mathematical Games
#24: The Joy of Mathematical Magic

I have not found reviews of The DVD on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Ebay.

I have a few questions. Have any of you listened to it? Was it worth the time and money? Should I buy it?

I'm not selling any textbooks or DVDs.

Batalov · 2012-05-22, 22:13

-OT-
The logo looked so much like the NYU torch logo (only grey), that I just had to double-check. They are different in number of flames! :-)
-/OT-

BBB seems to have nothing on that company -- an A+.
The price seems a bit steep just for the joy.

P.S. I don't know, these could be great (cannot say), but to compare to #23 and #24, you could get the complete works of Martin Gardner for less money.

Stargate38 · 2012-05-22, 22:46

Why are The Great Courses so expensive anyway? They shouldn't charge that much for a DVD set.

Uncwilly · 2012-05-23, 01:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by stathmk

In The Great Courses there's The Joy of Mathematics DVD. This is by Professor Arthur T. Benjamin, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, and Harvey Mudd College.
...
#3: The Joy of Primes (This caught my attention in particular)

They regularly have sales on some or all of their courses. I have received teaser CDs (2 complete lectures from different courses) and catalogs several times. The stuff that I have heard is solid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargate38

Why are The Great Courses so expensive anyway? They shouldn't charge that much for a DVD set.

How much would you have to pay to attend a course like that at Uni?

stathmk · 2012-05-23, 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

...I have received teaser CDs (2 complete lectures from different courses) and catalogs several times. The stuff that I have heard is solid. ...

I suppose I could have typed that my previous catalog came with a teaser CD, but I think that I've lost it. I believe you that what you've heard from it is solid.

I've forgotten to type that the Lost Christianities lecture series would sound interesting to me. One problem is that I don't want Bart Ehrman to be the only person presenting views about The Lost Gospels. I want to read what Elaine Pagels and certain other writers have to say. It's a very long story. I rented a documentary not from The Great Courses that I think was called The Da Vinci Code Decoded. In it, the ancient Nag Hamadi texts from Egypt mention Mary Magdaline. I've also heard that King Herod didn't kill any children except his own, but not until they were adults. It's a long story why I find this all interesting.

LaurV · 2012-05-23, 05:09

You were glowing with a magic light in front of me. As long as you stayed on math... Then you somehow managed to turn the light off... Goggle for torrents for all those history-related ~~shits~~ sources of wasting time, the net is full of them.

Batalov · 2012-05-23, 07:14

Only very bold people use such anti-deprecating names for their products.

The Great Courses!
The Big Three*! (Cue davieddy.)
The Band.
The Boss.
______

*I would have never learned about them if not for revisiting Uriah Heep's discography (only the Byron era) and thanks to Wiki - there we go: "Come Away Melinda" was not theirs but The Big Three's.

Uncwilly · 2012-05-23, 23:44

I got a catalog today in the post:
Th Joy of Mathematics DVD is only $34.95 on sale now.
Most courses are 80% off list.

Stargate38 · 2012-05-25, 13:20

$34.95? That means it must of cost $174.75 to begin with. How long till they have a 90% off sale?

Uncwilly · 2012-05-26, 01:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargate38

$34.95? That means it must of cost $174.75 to begin with. How long till they have a 90% off sale?

You are complaining about less than $1.50 per half hour lesson?????
Movies charge $2.50 (or more) per half hour and you are generally none the better for having seen them and have nothing to take home.
Buy a movie on DVD and you are at $5 (or more) per half hour.

The sale price is a BARGAIN!

KyleAskine · 2012-05-26, 03:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

I got a catalog today in the post:
Th Joy of Mathematics DVD is only $34.95 on sale now.
Most courses are 80% off list.

Is there a website we can buy it from?

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2012-05-22, 21:26	#1
stathmk Mar 2009 Indiana, United Stat 7² Posts	Should I buy The Joy of Mathematics DVD from The Great Courses? I'm working on Prime95 for now. Later, I'll be working on projects for http://www.primenumbers.net/prptop/prptop.php . I have a subscription to Discover magazine. In college, I would buy books about Computers, Math, Archeology, ancient cultures, and etc. Maybe those are reasons why I've gotten on a mailing list for a catalog that I've recieved again today. In The Great Courses there's The Joy of Mathematics DVD. This is by Professor Arthur T. Benjamin, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, and Harvey Mudd College. It's not the book with waves on the cover by a man with a Greek sounding name. It's 24 lectures of 30 minutes each: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/c....aspx?cid=1457 Lectures 1, 2, 3, 23, and 24 sound interesting to me: #1: The Joy of Math - The Big Picture #2: The Joy of Numbers #3: The Joy of Primes (This caught my attention in particular) #23: The Joy of Mathematical Games #24: The Joy of Mathematical Magic I have not found reviews of The DVD on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Ebay. I have a few questions. Have any of you listened to it? Was it worth the time and money? Should I buy it? I'm not selling any textbooks or DVDs. Last fiddled with by stathmk on 2012-05-22 at 21:26

2012-05-22, 22:13	#2
Batalov "Serge" Mar 2008 Phi(4,2^7658614+1)/2 10011101001101₂ Posts	-OT- The logo looked so much like the NYU torch logo (only grey), that I just had to double-check. They are different in number of flames! :-) -/OT- BBB seems to have nothing on that company -- an A+. The price seems a bit steep just for the joy. P.S. I don't know, these could be great (cannot say), but to compare to #23 and #24, you could get the complete works of Martin Gardner for less money. Last fiddled with by Batalov on 2012-05-22 at 22:16

2012-05-22, 22:46	#3
Stargate38 "Daniel Jackson" May 2011 14285714285714285714 2²×3³×7 Posts	Why are The Great Courses so expensive anyway? They shouldn't charge that much for a DVD set.

2012-05-23, 05:09	#6
LaurV Romulan Interpreter "name field" Jun 2011 Thailand 24051₈ Posts	You were glowing with a magic light in front of me. As long as you stayed on math... Then you somehow managed to turn the light off... Goggle for torrents for all those history-related ~~shits~~ sources of wasting time, the net is full of them.

2012-05-23, 07:14	#7
Batalov "Serge" Mar 2008 Phi(4,2^7658614+1)/2 10061₁₀ Posts	Only very bold people use such anti-deprecating names for their products. The Great Courses! The Big Three! (Cue davieddy.) The Band. The Boss. ______ I would have never learned about them if not for revisiting Uriah Heep's discography (only the Byron era) and thanks to Wiki - there we go: "Come Away Melinda" was not theirs but The Big Three's.

2012-05-23, 23:44	#8
Uncwilly 6809 > 6502 """"""""""""""""""" Aug 2003 101×103 Posts 2A92₁₆ Posts	I got a catalog today in the post: Th Joy of Mathematics DVD is only $34.95 on sale now. Most courses are 80% off list.

2012-05-25, 13:20	#9
Stargate38 "Daniel Jackson" May 2011 14285714285714285714 2²·3³·7 Posts	$34.95? That means it must of cost $174.75 to begin with. How long till they have a 90% off sale?